THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Stepping up its fight against drugs, Beemapally Muslim Jama-ath has decided to enhance action against members arrested for peddling or using narcotics. Jama-ath members caught with drugs will be removed from the committee for 10 years and fined `50,000. Those who endorse them or provide them with legal aid will be slapped with similar punishment.
TNIE had earlier reported on how the Jama-ath committee cracked the whip after excise sleuths arrested Mohammed Siraj of Neyyattinkara. It decided to employ ostracism and peer pressure to dissuade members from dealing drugs. T
he committee initially decided to impose a five-year ban. But when a section of the 23,000-strong Jama-ath committee refused to heed the warning, the decision was taken to enhance the action. The weak response to counselling for youths also seems to have forced its hand.
M K M Niyas, general secretary of the committee, said that despite warnings some members merely rubbished off its diktat. “At least 10 of our members have been involved in drug peddling and they are currently out on bail. Their activity points to the fact they also had a clientele among members. The committee decided to act so that the matter does not get out of hand,” Niyas told TNIE.
However, Poonthura police do not endorse the Jama-ath committee’s view of a spike in drug peddling cases in the area. Station house officer J Pradeep said that over the last several months the number of drug cases has come down. “These days due to stringent patrolling and checks, youths do not linger around playgrounds and beaches at odd hours. Community youth in and around Beemapally have embraced change,” said Pradeep.