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Drive against smack, liquor addicts

By Devesh K. Pandey

NEW DELHI SEPT. 20. Following a spate of robberies in moving buses and similar crimes in the Capital affecting people, the West Delhi police have come down heavily on smack and liquor addicts who have been found involved in such cases. Over 20 such persons carrying knives or suspected to be pickpockets were arrested from across West Delhi on the first day of the drive on Wednesday.A large number of pickpockets arrested in the past fortnight are alleged to be addicted to smack. The police found that they were not only into picking pockets but also robbery and other petty offences. They said these addicts fearlessly indulged in crime after getting high.

In one such case, Yogesh, described by the police as a desperate criminal, was arrested by the Special Staff police, which allegedly recovered 22 gm of smack from his possession. Four of his accomplices arrested along with him were also found to be smack addicts.

Rakesh Pehalwan, who was among the top ten criminals in the West Delhi, was arrested with 25 gm of smack. He was allegedly running a gang of pickpockets and was himself into robberies. The police said Rajkumar, Om Prakash, Raju Srivastava and Virender, who were arrested during the drive, were also addicts.

Their interrogations revealed that most -- known as "machines'' in local parlance -- were given very less money, and surprisingly they were satisfied with what was provided as they got their doses at regular intervals. The parents of some of the accused told the police that they even stole goods from their own houses.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, West Delhi, Deependra Pathak, said : "Many smack addicts who otherwise seem vulnerable during day have been found adept at burglaries and stealing accessories of vehicles at night.''

Such incidents, though seen as petty offences, were affecting people and had created terror among them. Thus, the issue that most drug addicts were behind these incidents was raised in a meeting at the Police Headquarters recently.

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