DIGBOI, Aug 22 - �I am tired of counselling my 22-year-old college going son who has fallen prey to and behaves very unnaturally due to intake of drugs for last few years with his friends at Dhekiajan village,� one of the parents at Muliabari AOD residential areas told this reporter in the wake of allegations of the people of Bhimpather, Haldibari and Dhekiajan under Digboi Police Station regarding the unabated circulation and consumption of opium in Dhekiajan area along the Pengaree-Bordumsa Road in Tinsukia district.
The local people allege that a few residences along the road in Dhekiajan area openly promote the sale of opium to attract the youths from various places including Muliabari, Borbil, Bhimpather, Golai and Powai areas of Digboi. The addicted youths from neighbouring places like Pengaree and Bordumsa also find it feasible due to the safe and remote locations and consume the drugs and promote their sale too.
Talking to this correspondent on the condition of anonymity, a well-established businessman of the village said that the entire area has been affected by juvenile delinquency vitiating the congenial atmosphere of the villages due to the activities of some of the households selling drugs and promoting the easy business by employing various ways and fooling the local police.
According to him, semi-liquid opium is being fetched from Dimapur and Arunachal Pradesh employing trained women for the purpose, who deliver the consignment to a notorious peddler at Dhekiajan near Shiv mandir. This criminal then further distributes the drugs to the local petty peddlers. Youths from different places inhale the drug in a readymade pipe available with the local peddlers in their houses, creating a din and making the place very unsafe for the pedestrians. Beside, the intoxicated youths have not only affected peace at their homes but also directly impact the crime graph in the place by getting involved in various forms of unethical, illegal and anti-social activities.
Meanwhile, when contacted, a police source informed that they had raided some of the households earlier and had apprehended a few peddlers of the villages too. According to reports, several local organisations and associations have decided to initiate the crusade very soon against the menace of drugs prevalent in any form if the local police fails in its bid to realise the end.