Hyderabad: Pockets of Old City Become Safe Haven for Drugs

 Hyderabad: Some pockets of the Old City have turned into havens for drug sale and consumption. Buying ganja is as easy as buying a cup of tea, a former drug peddler claimed.

"Drug peddlers from other parts have started operating in these areas due to the drastic rise in demand," said Preetam Singh, the former drug peddler. Earlier, only Dhoolpet and Mangalhat were known for drug sales, but now the peddlers are operating from all over the city and nearby districts.

According to the residents, the drug addicts can be found in the graveyard of Fatha Shah mosque, Labour Adda lane, Akramnagar and the Yakutpura-Umdanagar railway tracks.

If they try to talk to them, the residents claim, drug addicts terrorise them using various methods.

"It is worst at night. The lanes are occupied by ganja addicts, making it impossible to cross them. There is a stinking smell of marijuana smoke," said Ayesha Fatima, a resident of Talabkatta.

"Recently my husband Md Hameed and I tried to counsel a ganja addict as he lives in our locality. He took a snake from his pockets and placed it in my hands. I panicked till I realised that it was a dead snake,. When Hameed tried to catch him, he threatened us with a dagger and vanished into the lanes of Akramnagar," she said.

“They have beaten up residents when they tried to counsel them,” said Dr Sameena Begum, AIMIM corporator for Talabkatta. Police said they conduct frisking operations at nights but the drug addicts vanish by the time the teams arrive. They return later to their regular hangouts, the corporator said.

"Over 80 per cent of the young drug addicts are unemployed. They consume ganja on railway tracks or behind Anwar School, Labour Adda or graveyards, Sameena said.

Despite police arresting them several times, they did not change their behaviour and have become a nuisance to the people living in 40 localities in Yakutpura, Bhavaninagar, Rein Bazaar and other areas, she said.

According to the law, the drug addicts need to be counselled and sent to rehabilitation centres. "We had sent over 100 first-timers to rehab centres. We also arrested over 30 drug peddlers and invoked the PD Act on the repeated offenders," a senior police officer said.

It was found that the accused in cases of murders, attempt to murder, snatching and theft were under the influence of drugs, said Mohammed Mansoor, criminal advocate who works at a deaddiction centre.

"We are coordinating with NGOs and social workers to counsel drug consumers and their parents and urge the citizens to immediately inform the police about drug peddlers and consumers," he said.

"We have identified drug peddlers who are outsiders. Very soon, we will get them," said a task force official.