Mangaluru: For the first time in the local jurisdiction, Dakshina Kannada Police slapped a ‘Goonda Act’ on a big time drug peddler for operating around schools and colleges in Mangaluru city. In order to root out drug supply right from the source, the district police are on their toes to catch hold of the drug offenders.
T P Abdul Raheem, a chronic peddler arrested by the police was produced before court and later sent to judicial custody for a year. He has been charged under Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities, Drug Offenders, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Bootleggers, Gamblers and Slum Grabbers Ordinance, 1985 (Goonda Act in general) and sent to Bellary Central Jail where he is likely to remain for a year.
“He has been offending regularly by selling drugs to college students and school dropouts. Out of the 40 raids conducted, we found 135 drug addicts who were sent to de-addiction centers. This can be served as a warning to all the others involved in such activity”, said Dakshina Kannada Commissioner of Police Chandra Sekhar.
Raheem, AKA ‘Goods Raheem’ best known as ‘Kindi (window) Raheem’ as he was noted for passing the drugs through a window was identified as a regular offender since he has a peddling background for the past five years. “As an initiative to keep supply of ganja in check, we are catching hold of drug dealers around schools and colleges on priority because we received information that a lot of youngsters have become drug addicts because of Raheem”, Chandra Sekhar stated.
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“Within a year, we caught 135 drug addicts and seized a total of 94.21 kilograms of cannabis and 60 grams of cocaine. We sent the addicts to rehabilitation centers where they will undergo de-addiction. We do not have anything against the drug abusers because they are the next generation of our Nation. Once their rehabilitation is done, we will keep in contact with them so that there is no chance of relapse”, he confirmed.
Speaking about the drug abusers and how they must be treated, Commissioner of Police said, “The drug addicts must be treated well after their treatment so that they do not get into depression. More emphasis must be given on counseling the youth and keep their mind away from drugs. Parents should observe behavioral changes in children and if they come to know about their child’s drug problem, they should not worry about the social stigma but take preventive measures as ‘A stitch in time saves nine’, Commissioner cited.
Since they want to cut supply side of narcotics from the grass root level, more drug peddlers are on the list and the police are investigating on a daily basis, Commissioner said.
