Coimbatore: Known as the land of wealth and prosperity, Pollachi the second largest town in the District after Coimbatore is saddled in the vicinity of the Western Ghats along the Kerala border.
Coimbatore: Known as the land of wealth and prosperity, Pollachi the second largest town in the District after Coimbatore is saddled in the vicinity of the Western Ghats along the Kerala border.
It still remains one of Tamil Nadu's best kept secrets for tourism. With near-perfect weather round the year, Pollachi offers tourists a resort experience of tranquil solitude. As for the people in Pollachi, they are known for courtesy and dignity.
But all that has changed in the past few months with Pollachi being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The Pollachi sexual abuse and extortion racket shook the very core of Tamils in the district. Even before the people could recover from the notorious sexual crimes that are now under CBI investigation, the illegal drug haul at a quiet resort in Pollachi where over a hundred youth were arrested has questioned the very integrity that Pollachi was once known for.
Farmhouses, which were operating as resorts reportedly have been luring students from colleges in the District, by selling illegal and banned drugs on the farm. The youth who become addicted to these drugs visit these farmhouses after prior booking on social media. They consume alcohol first and then apparently resort to drug abuse, with DJ parties adding to the intoxicating atmosphere on the farms. In fact, it is reported that even the music played on the farm that came under the scanner was 'Psychedelic Rock' which means illusion. Psychedelic rock is a diverse style of rock music inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centred around perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music is intended to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD.
A police team led by Coimbatore SP Sujith Kumar and DSP Balamurugan with Inspectors Sivakumar, Devaraj, Anandhanayagi, Sub-inspectors Jegan, Renuga and 60 other police guards entered this particular resort at Sethumadai in plain clothes and surrounded the drug abusers in the premises. Apart from arresting the youth and the owners of the farmhouse, illegal drugs in the form of tablets and injections, drug oils, ganja and foreign liquor were seized. It was the timely intervention of the SP and his team that busted the drug racket.
Though there are private licensed dance bars that play 'Psychedelic Rock' music for its customers, doctors warn that youth are being destroyed by this culture of music and drugs. Anandan, a psychiatrist in Ramakrishna Hospital says, "When specific drugs are used, those under its influence feel like they are floating or flying, and are in complete illusion. In the same vein, those who use strong drugs and listen to Psychedelic Rock music, are in a high state of intoxication. They begin to feel like inanimate objects are speaking to them, and when the intoxication increases, the person either fights or sleeps. But those who use strong drugs will not sleep but instead continue to revel in deep intoxication. Brain nerves get affected by those who use these drugs for more than two years, and soon they reach a place of their lives being endangered."
Social activists have come out in protest against this music-drug culture, "A new kind of drug culture is spreading among the youth now, especially in places like Mumbai, Goa, Kerala and Kolkata where the youngsters are enjoying music along with drugs. This has been on for quite some time now, albeit silently. But since Tamil Nadu has not had this kind of culture, the drug mafia is trying to make inroads into the State by luring the youth."
Sources say that Illian Sorin of Russia is the mastermind behind organizing this event in Pollachi. He reportedly brought Kerala youth together on a social media platform operating from Goa on a tourist visa. The District Police Department has filed a case on him regarding this to the Russian foreign ministry in Chennai. Police are investigating this case from the angle of whether Illian Sorin has any connection with the Russian drug mafia. Advocates say that the arrested persons will not get bail immediately since they possessed a large quantity of illegal and banned drugs.
Social activists opine, "Even though parents, teachers and the Government try to orient youngsters in a proper way, these kind of new drugs and foreign culture are circulating in the society, which will be more dangerous for our society.” It has now become imperative for the law and order authorities, as well as educational institutions and parents to rise up and join hands to combat the prevalent danger of "drugs and music" that is becoming a rage among Indian youth today.