Telangana Police to have a special unit to tackle drugs

Hyderabad, Jan (IANS) Telangana Police will have a special cell to deal with narcotic drugs and organised crime.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday directed Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy to form a special Narcotic and Organised Crime Control Cell in the Police Department with 1000 members.

The special cell would work under the DGP and would perform special duties to take stringent measures to control and eliminate the narcotic drugs abuse and against the organised crimes.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting with Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand and other high officials on the stringent measures to be taken to control the narcotic drugs.

He made it clear that in the narcotic drugs cases, culprits, however high and mighty they may be, should be punished. He said a special action plan should be prepared for the strict implementation of the stringent measures.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, instructed officials concerned to act sternly against the use of narcotic drugs and ensure that this is totally eliminated from the state.

He decided to hold a conference at his official residence Pragathi Bhavan on Friday with police and excise officials to discuss measures and action to eliminate the menace.

The conference to be chaired by the CM will also be attended by the Home Minister, Excise Minister, Chief Secretary, DGP, all district SPs, Commissioners and other officials.

The Chief Minister's orders and the decision to convene a meeting come in the wake of last week's development when Hyderabad police achieved a major breakthrough by arresting an international drug peddler from Mumbai.

Chukwu Ogbonna David alias Tony, a Nigerian and the kingpin of one of the major international drug rackets, was arrested from Mumbai and brought to Hyderabad.

The police also arrested nine of the 13 high-profile businessmen in Hyderabad who were consumers of the drug supplied by Tony. Police Commissioner Anand had said that the police have evidence that Tony has been supplying drugs to people of affluent sections in the city.

The businessmen, most of them from posh Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, were arrested while the efforts were on to arrest the remaining persons.

KCR in October last year had ordered Police and the Excise Departments to crack down on drug abuse.

The order had come in the wake of growing menace of consumption of cannabis (ganja), opium, and other psychotropic substances in Hyderabad and some other parts of the state.

Following the orders, the Police and Excise Departments had launched a state-wide drive, resulting in large-scale seizure of ganja and other drugs.

The crackdown comes amid growing indications that Hyderabad has emerged as a key centre peddling and consumption of narcotic drugs.

After arresting several peddlers, the Hyderabad police have decided to go after those consuming drugs. The Police Commissioner said that they have a list of those consuming drugs and may arrest them under Section 27 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

"So far we were liberal about those who were using drugs so that their careers are not destroyed. We talked to their parents and counselled them but there is no change in them. We feel that if consumption does not come down, the supply will also not come down. Therefore, the time has come for strict measures to cut the demand," Anand said.

The Police Commissioner said the addicts were mostly youngsters in the age group of 18-30 and they are from all sectors and classes. "There are users of all drugs from easily available ganja to high-end cocaine. No one is free of it," he had said.