As drug sales flourish, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu engage in blame game

The alleged sexual assault and brutal murder of a nine-year-old girl in Puducherry has brought to the focus what's being called a drug menace in the region.

Amid allegations by Puducherry’s Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan that the drug menace in the Union territory is linked to the drug mafia in Tamil Nadu, and the Tamil Nadu police’s dismissal of the charges, activists have drawn attention to a link that both seem to have missed.

They say a strong network of youth peddlers including school and college students operate in various states. While catching these young ‘operators’ needs college and school-level narcotic cells and coordinated efforts, the issue remains undiscussed, rue activists.

What sparked Soundararajan’s allegations?

Taking an indirect swipe at the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, Soundararajan on Thursday (March 7) said that Puducherry police will take stringent action against people residing in the Union Territory who have links with drug mafia Jaffar Sadiq, and the backing of certain political parties for drug peddling.

She was referring to the accused arrested in the alleged sexual assault and murder of the child, which is suspected to be a drug-related crime. Two suspects, including a 19-year-old, have been arrested in the case so far.

Soon after Soundararajan made the statement, the Tamil Nadu police jumped into action and organised multiple press meets to clarify that drug networks from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh were the actual sources.

Activists, however, say that instead of resorting to blame games, states should focus on getting at the root of the drug menace, which is currently being operated by young peddlers.

Students turn ‘operatives'

Chennai-based activist Cyril Alexander cited several cases where college students were caught supplying drugs between states. He says the actual number of student networks would be much higher than the ones being busted by the authorities.

“Two college students were sentenced to five years of imprisonment in January this year by the Madras High Court for peddling drugs. They had good connections in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In another case, two medical students and their friends in Puducherry were arrested as they had planted a cannabis plant near their apartment. These instances were spotted after several weeks of investigation as the college-level narcotic cells are not very active,” Alexander told The Federal.

How are operatives recruited?

A visit to colleges in Chennai and Puducherry and interactions with students reveal that the drug network operates from various states, and many dropout students play an active role in the supply chain.

Two students at Pondicherry University on condition of anonymity said while students who want to earn quick bucks for pocket money act as operators in some cases, drug addicts get other students addicted to strengthen their gang.

“One person from the gang may organise a trip to a neighbouring state or unpopular tourist spot and coax others to try out drugs. Some students who fall into the trap become part of the network, with some of them even recruiting other active operators,” one of the students said.

‘Anti-narcotic cells only on paper’

The students said that while colleges have anti-narcotic cells, these are just present on paper and do little to curb the menace.

When The Federal asked Soundararajan about the anti-narcotic cells in colleges, she asserted that they are actively functional. “Almost all the educational institutions have anti-narcotic cells. They are actively functional. We conduct regular meetings,” she said.

When asked whether there is a lack of policing in the Union territory to identify the source of the drug menace, she said: “Our policing is strong. In some cases, the drug mafia in Tamil Nadu acts as a source.”

Sale of drugs has dropped: TN Police

Rejecting the allegations levelled by Soundararajan, Tamil Nadu DGP Shankar Jiwal said the state, in fact, has recorded a drastic drop in sale of narcotic substances due to which the number of related cases have also come down. He said there is no way drugs are being peddled from Tamil Nadu as alleged by Soundararajan. The state is just a transit point, he added.

“We have actually analysed 21 major cases and found out that our state is not a source point, only a transit. And in the recent instances, we acted immediately. The destruction of seized drugs has also reduced the circulation,” he said.