|
|
|
|
|
Punjab jails to have anti-drug cells after staff fail dope test Chandigarh, August 24 The government has all this while focussed on checking the supply of drugs to jail inmates, but results of the first-of-its-kind dope test on jail staff has lend credence to the suspicion that the jail employees were aiding drug smuggling. Four jail warders from Kapurthala, two from Ferozepur and six ex-servicemen deputed for jail security through the Punjab Ex-Serviceman Corporation (PESCO) tested positive for drugs. A number of employees of the Amritsar jail were also found hooked to drugs. The results of tests from other jails are awaited. The jail administration has now decided to set up anti-drugs cell in jails, the first-of-its- kind in any government department. The authorities have issued notices to jail warders, who failed the dope test, to get treatment or face action. Show-cause notice have also been issued to contractual guards hired form PESCO asking why they should not be dismissed. “We were initiating programmes for the de-addiction of jail inmates, but the persons who are supposed to check the supply of drugs in jails are themselves hooked to drugs. Some of them are working as conduits,” said a jail official. ADGP (Jails) RS Meena said: “The drug tests on the jail staff was conducted for the first time. Every government department should conduct such tests on its staff,” he said. Meena said anti-drug cells would be set up in jails to keep a watch on inmates and staff. “Our goal is not to punish drug addicts, but to reform them. We will prepare monthly reports of addicts,” he said. Drugs smuggling in state jails has assumed alarming proportions. Despite increased vigil, drugs somehow reach inmates. Relatives or friends of inmates supply drugs, hidden in fooditems, to them. 12 employees test positive
Four jail warders from Kapurthala, two from Ferozepur and six ex-servicemen deputed for jail security through the Punjab
Ex-Serviceman Corporation (PESCO) tested positive for drugs. "The drug test on the jail staff was conducted for the first time. Our goal is not to punish drug addicts, but to reform them." RS Meena, ADGP (jails)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
