Nagpur: With a motive to draw Union Minister, Amit Shah’s attention to the flourishing narcotics use and trade unearthed in Second Capital of the State, Ex-MLA Dr. Ashish Deshmukh has written a letter demanding CBI and NCB enquiry in this regard in the interest of society.
According to the data of National Crime Record Bureau for the year 2019,the state of Maharashtra reported an extremely high incidence of 2256 individuals committing suicide due to various reasons. Many of these unnatural deaths have been attributed to the addiction and dependence to the narcotic group of drugs. The same report revealed that in Nagpur 636 people committed suicide last year. Out of these 94 were due to drug abuse, 371 attributing to family matters, 111 pertaining to health issues and 6 to marital problems.
Shockingly, drug related deaths in Nagpur outnumber even metropolises like Mumbai and Pune with figures of 88 and 70 respectively. The deleterious effects of drug abuse have led to broken families, extreme poverty, addicted people resorting to punitive crimes, murders and assaults. The other unwanted effects of drug addiction are loss of productivity which is not at all desirable in a developing country like oursand the fact that the drug addict exists in an unnatural state of mind often leading to catastrophic results.
There are confirmed reports where the drug peddlers have used ingenious methods of moving these banned drugs clandestinely. Nagpur is being used as a hub as a market as well as a transshipment area for drug peddlers from nearby states (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana etc) and even as far as Delhi, UP etc. There are also reports that drug peddling is at a massive scale that may involve neighboring countries such as, Pakistan and Afghanistan which use drug money for militant activities and may use conduits like Nepal and coastal areas which find its way into Central India and cities like Nagpur.
It is an absolute travesty of justice that this is happening in the second capital of Maharashtra that has given a former CM and Home minister Devendra Fadnavis as well as the current Home Minster Anil Deshmukh. This is testimony that the administration and police have turned a blind eye to the happenings or it is beyond the capacity of the state police as it involves so many other states.
These habit-forming psychotropic agents that enslave people to them and the street value of the drugs being very high leads to moral and financial bankruptcy coupled the possible inability to procure drugs and alcohol is cited as reason behind many such suicides. The addiction lads to crimes like robbery, theft to fuel their desire.
There is an urgent need of everyone to be vigilant and report any nefarious activity in their surroundings to effectively contain this menace before it destroys our society specially the youngsters of common families.
The authorities also should ensure that various agencies of the Government should focus on curbing this hazard. The Narcotics Control Board (NCB) and the CBI as a part of the current investigation should explore as to how a relatively small place like Nagpur should fall prey to the drug menace and the spiraling suicides that are attributed to it. May I also submit that to trace the drug routes we could take assistance from international agencies such as Interpol etc.
These were the points highlighted by Deshmukh and appealed Shah that such a move will curb this menace and make our community and country a better place to live.
