GUNTUR: Guntur Urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao on Sunday directed the police to take stern action against sellers and suppliers of banned gutka, ganja and drugs, who are targeting the students of colleges imparting professional courses and the unemployed youth, in the capital region. He conducted a review meeting with officers and asked them to coordinate with the AP Prohibition and Excise Department and AP Food Safety Department to nab the drug peddlers in Guntur urban district.
He said that illegal sale of drugs, gutka and ganja was increasing in the capital region and that students and unemployed youth were being targeted more and more; therefore the police would have to be vigilant to curb such illegal activities, the SP said.
He further said that the sellers were also targeting the tourists at tourist centres in Guntur. He said that ganja sale had increased in a big way in the capital region. Earlier it was limited to railway stations and towns through beggars, but things had changed, so the police should be more vigilant to curb illegal supplies from agency areas of Visakhapatnam and Telangana.
He said that the students who came from distant places for study purpose and the unemployed youth, who reached the capital region in search of jobs, were becoming easy prey, as the peddlers wanted to make huge profit by targeting youngsters. He said that the peddlers were extending their illegal sale of ganja, gutka and drugs to places near universities and were supplying ganja by filling the stuff in cigarettes and as a result of this the officials would have to step up their vigil and curb such illegal acts.
He appealed to the managements of educational institutions and parents to keep an eye on their wards and give them proper counselling and use kind words when they did it, especially for those who had already got hooked on drugs, ganja and gutka. He said that occasional checking of their rooms could be a good step in the right direction.
He appealed to the public to give information about illegal supply of drugs and banned gutka by dialling 100 or contacting the police over phone for prompt action. He assured that the police would keep the names and other details of the informers highly confidential.According to available information, the police have registered two cases against gutka and seven cases against ganja peddlers and seized 164.2 kg of ganja this month.
Sources said that while the police registered 28 cases against gutka and 13 cases against ganja peddlers and seized 611 kg of gutka in 2018, 11 cases against gutka and 31 cases against ganja peddlers were booked and 531.33 kg of ganja was seized in 2017. SP Vijaya Rao said that the police of Krishna district arrested a smuggler, who was transporting ganja to Guntur. “So the police will have to be more vigilant to restrain such activities in Guntur urban district limits,” the SP said.