Baramulla, July 18: The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla, Amod Ashok Nagpure on Tuesday said the drug abuse was a significant challenge for Baramulla police in border areas stressing that they often have to deal with cross-border smuggling in border areas like Uri.
He, however, expressed his optimism saying that significant strides have been made in curbing drug smuggling on a large scale through the sustained campaign conducted by the J&K police in the past six months.
“I am confident that this serves as a warning to all the drug peddlers that they should refrain from such activities. If they have not yet experienced the consequences of their actions, they will soon face the consequences. Baramulla police will not be lenient, so it would be better for them to refrain from their illegal activities,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a free medical camp organised in Silikote village, a forward area in Uri sector.
The north Kashmir Police Range, headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Vivek Gupta, on Tuesday reached out to the locals of Silikote village and organised a free medical camp for the villagers.
“This medical camp is a part of the Government of India’s border outreach program in which officials from various government departments visit different border areas to meet with the locals and discuss their issues and concerns. Today’s medical camp was organized under the same program,” SSP Baramulla said.
He said the objective of this camp was to deliver an important health message to the people living in the forward area and address the health issues people are facing here.
“Doctors and experts are present at the camp to provide their opinions and immediate treatment if any medical conditions require special attention. In case of severe health issues, referrals will be made accordingly,” he said.
The SSP Baramulla said the purpose of holding a medical camp was to provide health-related information to the people and address their health concerns.
“Today’s camp has been very successful, and we are pleased that the people actively participated in this program,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking about the strategies chalked out to curb the menace of drug abuse, the SSP Baramulla said the first strategy to address this problem was to crack down on the suppliers.
“We have registered 187 FIRs under the NDPS Act in the last six months and have apprehended around 318 drug peddlers. Among them, 34 are hardcore and habitual offenders who have been booked under the NDPS Public Safety Act (PSA),” he said.
The SSP said that the second part of the strategy was to tackle the demand side as well.
“To achieve this, we have implemented an ongoing awareness program to combat the drug menace. We also operate a drug de-addiction centre in Baramulla, and there are other centers in Srinagar and Anantnag,” Nagpure said.
He said the goal was to address the demand side while simultaneously reducing the supply as well.
“With the active cooperation of the people, we are optimistic that we will soon achieve success and declare Baramulla a drug-free district,” he said.