UDUPI: With an internal probe underway into the drug menace affecting MAHE, Manipal, the institution has suspended 42 students of various courses for a period of one month. Sources said that these 42 students were recently booked by Manipal police for illegal drug consumption, following which the MAHE administration decided to suspend them.
Though the illegal drug consumption cases were sporadic until recent years, there has been a sudden surge in drug peddling and consumption, particularly in Manipal and surrounding areas. Students have been the victims of the menace in most cases, which prompted the police to go tough against violators. In an awareness programme held in Udupi a few months ago, a senior citizen, who stays in a flat in Manipal, had complained to the police about some students allegedly consuming drugs next to his door.
A communique from MAHE stated that it observed that a few students had fallen prey to drugs. “These students have been subjected to internal investigation as per MAHE’s zero-tolerance policy against substance abuse. They have been suspended until the completion of the internal investigation,’’ it said.
Sources said that those students have now been referred to the MAHE student counsellor for help. Udupi SP Akshay M Hakay said that a list of students, who engaged in drug trafficking and consumption in the last three months, was given to MAHE after their narco-analysis test results came positive, based on which, MAHE suspended them, he said.