K’taka to study 2012 report to fight drug menace
Bengaluru: Karnataka will study the findings of a 2012 Legislative Committee report to fight the growing drug menace in the state, especially in the Kannada film industry, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday.
“I have asked Additional Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel in the Home department to study the findings of the 2012 report to tackle the drug menace that has revived in the state of late,” Bommai told reporters.
The report prepared by the then Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat as the Assembly’s Petitions Committee Chairman was tabled in the assembly in 2012 when the BJP was in power.
As the report recommended measures to control the menace, we will study and implement them to fight drug trafficking in the state, Bommai said after a video conference with the Superintendents of Police (SPs) and Inspector-Generals of Police (IGP) across the state.
As the BJP lost the May 2013 Assembly elections, the report remained buried since then under the Congress government till 2018 and the JD(S)-led coalition government that was in power till July 2019.
Noting that the drug menace was not only in Karnataka but also in other states across the country, Bommai added the police would use all resources and technology to tackle the drug menace.
The 8-year-old report studied how students in colleges across the state were falling prey to narcotics and the growing nexus between drug suppliers and consumers.
Alarmed by the alleged drug links in the Kannada film industry and huge consumption of narcotics in this tech city, Bommai ordered a crackdown on drug supplies in cities and towns across the southern state.
“I have directed the police to crack down on supply of narcotic drugs like ganja (marijuana) in cities and towns across the state to prevent their consumption, especially by the youth,” Bommai said on Friday when Kannada film actress Ragini Dwivedi was arrested in the city for her alleged drug links.
Asserting that the state government was firm on ending the drug menace in the state, Bommai said the Central Crime Branch (CCB) was investigating the cases to find out the source of narcotics, who sells, buys and consumes them.
“I have told the police to conduct raids on suppliers and consumers of banned drugs in all 30 districts across the state, including border areas to prevent drug trafficking from other states,” Bommai added.
Leads from the present investigation indicated that the banned drugs were entering Karnataka from other states and overseas through peddlers.
“We will continue our operation against drug peddlers and consumers till the menace is brought under control, as the recent arrests by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Bengaluru revealed the links of peddlers with the Kannada film actors and musicians,” reiterated Bommai.
Warning offenders of stringent action, the Minister said no one involved in the business of narcotic drugs, however influential, would be spared.
“Everyone involved in the drugs business, however influential or popular, will be punished to set an example to others indulging in the menace,” Bommai added.
