NERWA/CHOPAL:
Nerwa and village centres of Chopal are increasingly emerging as a hotspot for the illegal trade of drugs and addictive cough syrups, with the racket allegedly spreading its tentacles among school and college students, unemployed youth and young people from neighbouring areas, including Nepali workers, according to local residents.
In the latest breakthrough, Nerwa Police have arrested Manisha Rana, 35, a resident of Dehradun, allegedly identified as a key supplier in a cough syrup racket operating across Nerwa, Bharanu, Chopal, Jhiknipul, Deot, Bamta, Sarain and Maroag.
Police had arrested two persons in August in connection with the racket. During the investigation, their phone contacts and online payment transactions allegedly led investigators to Dehradun and to Rana.
Police said the accused had contacted her by phone for procurement of the prohibited substance and payments were made through online channels.
The arrest has now opened a larger question: where is the addictive cough syrup being sourced or manufactured, and who is controlling the supply chain reaching the interior areas of Chopal?
Local residents claim that peddlers allegedly arrive from Paonta Sahib, Vikasnagar and Saharanpur and work through a network of local dealers.
The alleged network is said to operate across Nerwa, Deot, Chopal, Sarain and Jhiknipul, with dealers making quick money by targeting vulnerable youngsters.
Residents allege that the trade is no longer confined to isolated cases and has become a growing social problem. School and college-going youth, unemployed youngsters and other vulnerable sections are reportedly being drawn into addiction.
Members of civil society and teachers have called for a comprehensive crackdown on the entire supply chain rather than arrests of individual peddlers. They said the impact is being felt not only by young users but also by their families, with addiction threatening the social fabric of the area.
There are also serious allegations against the local enforcement machinery. Some residents have accused sections of the police of remaining inactive and, at times, allegedly being in connivance with elements involved in the trade.
These are allegations and require an independent and transparent inquiry; no wrongdoing by any police personnel has been established.
The arrest of Rana has therefore put the spotlight on the larger network. Police will now have to establish the source of the cough syrup, identify the financiers and local distributors, trace the flow of money and determine how the material has been reaching the Chopal belt for such a long period.
The case has also raised questions about whether enforcement agencies have been focusing sufficiently on the local distribution network and the source of supply, instead of merely catching users and small-time peddlers.
With the investigation continuing, residents are demanding sustained police action, identification of local dealers and a coordinated campaign involving the police, education authorities, health officials, parents and civil society to prevent the drug trade from gaining a deeper foothold in Chopal.
The bigger question remains unanswered: Who is manufacturing or supplying the addictive cough syrup that is reaching Nerwa—and how has the network managed to operate for years?
#NerwaDrugRacket #Chopal #DrugTrade #HimachalPradesh
