28 January,2019 05:30 PM IST | | Faizan Khan
Paan bedi shops demolished in Mumbai
Registration of drug-related cases was only the first step in the city police's drive against drugs. Demolition of paan beedi shops around educational institutes is step two. Following the diktat of Police Commissioner Subodh Jaiswal, around 200 paan beedi shops around schools and colleges in the city have been demolished by the police with the civic body's help. The entire stretch from Bandra to Andheri (West Zone) has witnessed the demolition of around 60 shops since the drive began on January 10. Drugs worth Rs 49 lakh have also been seized from the West Zone alone.
"These paan beedi shops play a major part in addiction because students begin with tobacco products and cigarettes and then gradually take to drugs. Hence, the order to demolish the ones around schools and colleges in the next one month," said Joint Commissioner Law and Order Deven Bharti.
"Despite the Supreme Court's guidelines, most of these shops run illegally and hence stringent action has been taken against them," added Paramjit Singh Dahiya DCP Zone 9.
The police have also initiated action against shopkeepers selling cigarettes or tobacco products to minors.
Drop in cases
The city police received strict orders from the commissioner earlier this month after a 25 per cent drop in drug-related cases was noticed from 2017 to 2018, despite a rise in drug-related complaints.
The cops have set a one-month deadline for all police stations to check on drugs peddlers and suppliers in the city and promptly register cases against offenders.
"After a month, we will be able to provide exact data regarding the number of cases and the amount of drugs seized," said Bharti.
According to the police, in 2017, 94 police stations in Mumbai had registered 12,687 cases and arrested 13,063 people in drug-related cases. But in 2018, the cases dropped to 9,323 and 9,516 people were arrested.
Additional Commissioner (western region) Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma said that the campaign began with the intention of dissuading teenagers falling into the trap of drug addiction. "We are also organising lectures of senior police officers at colleges in co-ordination with the local police stations. We will also have interactive sessions with the students," said Sharma.
Teachers hail police
Capt Malini Sharma, a Biology teacher at Andheri's Bhavan's College, said that the drive is a real help in terms of awareness. "Students will not fall into the drugs' trap easily if they don't have access to cigarettes and tobacco products near schools and colleges. I have been teaching in Bhavan's for the last 13 years and the paan beedi shops have cropped up all around very recently. We, too, have been conducting awareness sessions with the help of police," Capt Sharma said.
Another teacher Siddique Sakarwala of the Farooq High School, Jogeshwari said the school is also helping the police find shopkeepers who sell such product to minors in the area.
Apart from the local police stations, the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Police has also been asked to take stringent actions in drug-related cases as part of this drive.
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