Coimbatore : In a bid to make Coimbatore free from drugs and steer youth away from drug addiction, the city's Police Department has launched an exclusive helpline number '6384200100' to register complaints on drug trafficking.
Coimbatore : In a bid to make Coimbatore free from drugs and steer youth away from drug addiction, the city's Police Department has launched an exclusive helpline number '6384200100' to register complaints on drug trafficking.
The initiative was flagged off by L Balaji Saravanan, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) on Friday.
"As part of the initiative, a 'Drug Control Committee' has been set up in educational institutions to provide counselling to youth who are addicted to drugs and to help rehabilitate them. These rehabbed students will continue to remain under the surveillance of the Committee, so that they do not fall back into drug abuse again," said a senior police official.
The action comes after repeated complaints from the public and parents who have been shocked by the free movement of anti-social gangs dealing out drugs such as cannabis and other banned substances, targeting school and college-going students in city limits as well as in the outskirts.
Based on the complaints, the Commissioner of Police, Sumit Sharan and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Balaji Saravanan have been brainstorming ideas to annihilate drug usage and make Coimbatore a drug-free city. Following this, night patrols, vehicle inspection and surveillance were doubled to nab drug peddlers in the city.
Now, with the launch of an exclusive helpline number, the city police aims to assist drug-addicted students and lead them in the right path.
How does the helpline benefit?
College students, parents, college administration and public will be made aware of the helpline number. Oarents who suspect their sons/daughters to have been addicted or using drugs can call the helpline number and alert the Drug Control Committee. The Committee in turn will escalate the issue to the 'Drug Control Committee' set up in the college which will monitor the student discreetly and provide holistic counselling.
Recent cases of drug trafficking
A few days ago, information about a drug peddler selling cannabis in and around Saravanampatti area was received through the helpline number. Following this incident, a special squad comprising of Sub Inspector Kandasamy, Head Constables Girish Kumar and Mohan plotted to nab the drug peddler, caught him red-handed and arrested him.
The accused was identified as Das alias Maria Susai from Valparai who had 15 cases of peddling marijuana pending against him in Valparai.
In another case, the Saravanampatti Police received a similar information regarding two students who were pursuing education in a private college in Saravanampatti but were involved discreetly in selling cannabis to college students.
A special squad led by Inspector Selvaraj, Sub Inspector Madhu Vikram and Ravi caught hold of the duo red-handed and seized 1300 grams of cannabis from them.
The inspectors who were involved in nabbing the drug peddlers were lauded by the Commissioner of Police and were presented with a certificate of appreciation.