Drug menace: Mangaluru police to spread awareness in schools, colleges through counselling sessions

Police said that officials will visit schools and hold talks with students individually in order to create awareness

In a drive against drug menace in Mangaluru, city police will organise awareness programmes in 288 schools and colleges in Mangaluru Commissionerate limits.

The awareness programmes for teaching and non-teaching faculties will be conducted by the month end. Police, doctors, and officials from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) will be part of the awareness programme, Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Kumar R Jain informed mediapersons on Monday.

He said that officials will visit schools and hold talks with students individually in order to create awareness on ill-effects of substance abuse. “We will also collect information from the students on sale of drugs in order to take further action. CCB sleuths will conduct raids on the peddlers who will be under constant watch by peddlers,” he said.

Counselling sessions

Commissioner said counselling sessions will be held every week at all police stations for those booked under NDPS act. The first such session was held in Police Commissioner hall on Sunday. “The counselling session aims to ensure that those booked under NDPS act in the past three years are out of the clutches of drugs," he said.

Doctors, psychiatrist, advocates and police will take part in the counselling sessions in police stations. The resource persons will also have individual discussions with them. Even police will also collect information about the availability of drugs and will act against drug menace in the Commissionerate limits,” he added.

The police will monitor activities of those who were booked under NDPS. “If the students were booked, then the police will speak to their parents/guardians. In the past three years, over 700 people were booked under NDPS act in Commissionerate limits. Of which 25 per cent of them are students,” he observed.

In the past four months, 130- kg of ganja, 550 grams of synthetic drugs were seized and action was initiated against 38 peddlers and 130 consumers in Commissionerate limits. To a query, Commissioner said that strict action will be taken against police personnel involved in the drugs mafia.

24,000 CCTV locations mapped

The commissioner said that in order to check crimes, Mangaluru city police had mapped over 24,000 CCTV locations using Mobile Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (MCCTNS) app. Apart from CCTV cameras installed by the department and other government departments, those installed by business establishments, schools and colleges are also mapped. As soon as crimes takes place, the nearby CCTV cameras are scrutinised through the app in order to detect the crime and arrest the culprits. It helps police by collecting evidence, Commissioner said.