Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that Kerala has become an important hub of narcotics and psychotropic substances. “Narcotics are freely available in schools and colleges across the State. Drugs are sold directly in class rooms,†said Vijayan while replying to a calling attention motion by the Congress-led UDF in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the increase in the seizure of narcotics in the State during the last three years has been alarming. “In 2020 the authorities seized 4000 kg cannabis in Kerala while the quantity seized in 2021 was 6100 kg. This year, till August, the agencies have seized more than a tonne cannabis in addition to MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and hashish oil,†said the chief minister. MDMA is one of the leading drugs which is being widely used among students, youths, autorickshaw drivers, bus and truck drivers in the State.
Vijayan also declared that his government would leave no stones unturned to finish off the menace of drug abuse from the State. While the chief minister was speaking in the legislative assembly, television news channels in the State broke the news that two young professionals were arrested with 21 kg cannabis by the Mavelikkara Police. The youths (Thajuddeen, an engineering degree holder and Vineet, a MBA) were engaged in transporting the “stuff†meant for selling in campuses in the nearby areas when they were arrested by the police on Wednesday morning.
Not a single day passes in Kerala without reports of seizure of narcotics from different parts of the State. Last week people in the State were shocked to see the live visuals of a young college girl who was taken into custody by the police from a lodge in Ernakulam. The heart rending cries of the young graduate girl pleading with the police to help her get the quota of drug has gone viral. Akshitha, a bright student, has become an addict thanks to her boyfriend Noufal who is a drug pusher.
Chief Minister Vijayan’s statement in the assembly on Wednesday substantiates the charge made by Joseph Kallarangattu, the Bishop of Palai diocese that narcotics jihad was active in the State. The Kerala Police had filed a criminal case against the bishop for his statement and slapped charges against him for trying to foment communal hatred in the State.
Rishiraj Singh, the Rajasthan born IPS officer of Kerala cadre who had served as the commissioner of excise had warned the State about the alarming increase in drug abuse and the narcotics mafia’s influence in the campuses. Robin, a management trainer at Kochi said that it was an open secret that drugs were readily available in schools and colleges across the State.
