Mumbai cops crack down on druggies after being bombarded by complaints

Though seizures of consignments increased between 2017 and 2018, the number of consumers arrested fell from 13,000 to 9,000, leading Commissioner Subodh Jaiswal to read the riot act to his ACPs

After being bombarded with criticism for inaction against drug dealers and drug consumption in the city, Police Commissioner Subodh Jaiswal has cracked the whip. Within days of the dressing down on January 14, police stations, which saw a 25% dip in consumption cases from 2017 to 2018, have started registering cases by the dozen, said sources.

On January 14, at one of the bi-annual meetings conducted by the District Planning and Development Council and attended by local citizen representatives, police officers, and BMC, SRA and MMRDA officials, an unsuspecting Jaiswal was bombarded by complaints on the menace of drug consumption. The representatives began counting the numerous problems related to drugs and registered their anger over inaction by the local police. Representatives from the Western and North Region of the city said the drug menace had reached college gates and was a huge warning bell.

Trombay residents recently formed patrolling teams to save youngsters from the drug menace and had even caught drug dealer Chinnamman Pillai during this drive

After the meeting, when Jaiswal asked for figures on the action taken by the Anti Narcotics Cell and local police stations, he was told that cases of drug consumption had dropped by almost 25% in 2018 compared to 2017. A police officer said, "The fall in consumption cases clearly showed inaction by the police stations on the ground. This triggered an order from the top brass to all police stations to take the matter seriously."

The commissioner promised the citizen representatives that the police would start acting immediately on the issues raised and would ensure that the drugs menace would never come up for discussion again.

Subodh Jaiswal

After meeting, Jaiswal quickly called for a meeting with the Additional Police Commissioners and ordered them to go after drug suppliers and to ensure Mumbai became drug free. "Every police station has now been asked to keep an eye on peddlers as well as those consuming drugs around sensitive areas such as schools, colleges and deserted areas," the police officer said.

According to data, in 2017, 94 police stations in Mumbai registered 12,687 cases and arrested 13,063 people. But, in 2018, the cases dropped to 9,323 and 9,516 people were arrested.

Deven Bharati, joint commissioner of police (law and order), said, "Police stations in the city have been ordered to crack down on both dealers and addicts. We are seeing a rise in the number of cases being registered since the order."

Aslam Sheikh, MLA (Malad West constituency), said, "We had raised the issue of the drug menace at the meeting. We asked cops to act on drug consumption and peddling on a war footing just like they did on drink driving. We were assured by the commissioner that stern action will be initiated against the drug problem in the city."

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