Army, judiciary join border district’s fight against drugs

Keeping in view the ever-increasing cases of drug addiction, the Army, local judiciary and the Red Cross deaddiction centre have joined hands in an earnest endeavour to eradicate the menace from this border district.

Situation grim

The situation in border villages is grim. Everybody knows how drones drop heroin packets from the night skies... The first port of call for these drones are border villages. — Romesh Mahajan, Project director of the red cross centre

This development is unprecedented because earlier the fight against dope was restricted to the BSF and the Punjab Police. This also speaks about the trepidation, fear and anxiety drugs have on the minds of the authorities.

Locals and parents of addicts have welcomed the move. Experts opine this development has the potential to decrease drug usage among youth if not completely eradicating it.

In recent days, Col RS Shekhawat of the 14th Jat Regiment stationed at Tibri cantonment and his team, under the guidance of Brig PS Sandhu, have started holding seminars in educational institutions. The first institute the Army has identified is the ITI, Gurdaspur. This was preferred because 90 per cent of students hail from villages and semi-urban areas where drug incidence is extremely high. In the next phase, skill development course will be imparted.

Colonel Shekhawat said such seminars would be held regularly. “It is a no-holds barred battle. We have entered the fray because someone had to cleanse society of its warts and moles,” he said.

District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Aggarwal identifies and subsequently sends addicts for rehabilitation. He then personally oversees their treatment process. Last week, he and his team comprising CJMs Ramneet Kaur and RPS Cheema, visited the centre. “We often tell addicts no matter how hard the past, you can always begin afresh,” said Aggarwal.

“The situation in border villages is grim. Everybody knows how drones drop heroin packets from the night skies. The first port of call for these drones are border villages. If we are unable to do anything about drones, we can at least battle addiction. When you can stop, you do not want to. And when you want to stop, you cannot. That is an addiction. And that is what we are fighting,” said Romesh Mahajan, Project Director of the Red Cross Centre.

The centre, a 30-bed hospital, has already treated more than 90,000 addicts. Whenever the cops launch an anti-drug drive, like it has right now, it gets filled to the brim.