HYDERABAD: As many as 1,200 students including girls, who are pursuing engineering courses in corporate colleges, were spotted at Dhoolpet, in search of peddlers selling ganja and other narcotic substances in the last one year. The Hyderabad city wing of Excise and Prohibition department officials have counselled all of the 1,200 students and let them off.
The officials, however, said that if any student is caught possessing drugs, they will not hesitate from registering cases under the NDPS Act and refer them to de-addiction centres.
Talking extensively about what leads these students to the consumption of ganja and drugs, C Vivekananda Reddy, Deputy Commissioner, Hyderabad range, Excise and Prohibition Department told Express that they have caught at least 1,200 students including girls pursuing higher studies in engineering stream after they were attracted in consuming ganja and drugs.
“As per last one-year data, 10 per cent of students were addicted to consuming ganja while 20 per cent of students had narcotic substances in their possession. In several cases, students addicted to drugs subsequently turn in to drug peddlers themselves, so that they can earn easy money if their parents deny them pocket money,” Vivekananda Reddy said.
Reddy explained that most of the students were lured by their close friends to inhale ganja or drug abuse. He further accused the parents of a lack of focus on their children, and also criticised them for providing them with huge amounts of pocket money. “This is what leads students to such vices. Besides, children belonging to broken families are also frequently affected,” he said.
For instance, the Hyderabad Excise and Prohibition department staff had detained a girl student who was allegedly visiting Dhoolpet in search of ganja during midnight. The girl, who was in a depressed state, picked arguments with the staff on why she was being stopped for simply riding her vehicle during the night. The officials, however, managed to contact her parents and provided her with counselling in their presence.
“While in counselling, the young girl revealed many shocking matters. She was lured into consuming ganja and drugs by her friends. Both the mother and father are working professionals and earn well. They provide huge pocket money to their children every day. The children started spending money on ganja and drugs. Suddenly, when the parents stopped giving them money, the young student became a peddler herself,” Vivekananda said.
Preventive measures
The officials including police have taken preventive measures -- keeping a close vigil on the regular peddlers and ganja suppliers from Visakhapatnam agency localities. The Hyderabad Excise officials identified several mandals such as Mutchingiputtu, G Madugula, GK Veedhi, Pedabhayalu, Paderu, Chintapalli to some extent and Koraput of Odisha State, areas from where ganja is being transported to the city. 40 per cent of the supply has apparently gone down after one notorious supplier was detained.