Two illegal drug de-addiction centres in Haryana at Kharkhoda in Sonipat district and at village Matehri Shekhan near Ambala City illegally running without having license and docor were detected by the health department and the police in past couple of days in which 37 drug addicted youths under treatment were rescued at Kharkhoda and 32 youths were rescued at Matehri Shekhan respectively. CM Flying Squad team accompanied by health department team jointly conducted a surprise raid on a information and preliminary investigation revealed that the drug addicted youths lodged in Kharkhoda illegal centre was run by a police head constable Sonu Hooda working in the Ganaur police station along with another companion and youths lodged in the centre were often ill treated and also severaly beaten.
Sunil Kumar Sub Inspectors accompanied by the duty magistarte Ashok Kumar, Naib Tehsildar told media persons that the organizers of the centre having 37 patients failed to produce any license or availability of a doctor to treat drug addicted patients. There were only 13 beds in the centre and three inmates used to share a single bed during night and the organizers were charging the inmates exorbitantly for fraudulent treatment, investigators revealed. The youths lodged in the centre narrated their pathetic stories how they were brutally treated, manhandled, without having proper food requesting to free them.
The alleged irregularities were detected during inspection based on a tip-off. The centre did not have a valid registration number under the Haryana De-addiction Centres Rules, 2010, Amended 2018, to run a de-addiction centre. Surprisingly, health department team led by Dr Yoginder Goel Deputy CMO during checking by the raiding teams recovered stocks of drugs, intoxicated injections and tablets in the centre which were seized. Meanwhile, ACP Ganaur Gorakh Pal Rana arrived at Ganaur police station in search of police head constable Sonu Hooda but he was found missing during working hours and no body could give any information as regard his whereabouts and the information was passed to the higher authorities.
In another case at Ambala, joint teams of the Health Department, District Administration and the Police jointly raided a illegal drug de-addiction centre at village Matehri Shekhan near Ambala City functioning without having a license from the district administration for the past 10 months. The raid continued on Monday for about 10 hours in which the visiting team had a talk with 32 youths lodged in the centre, which included 29 youths from Punjab and one each from Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Pehowa in Kurukshetra district. The youths disclosed to the raiding team how they are mercilessly beaten during night after removing their clothes in the basement so that no one may be able to hear their cries for help and injury marks were also seen on the body of few inmates.
Inspector Sunita Dhaka told media persons that there was no doctor available in the drug de-addiction centre run by two persons originally hailing from Rajpura and Patiala. The raiding team had a personal talk with all 32 youths lodged in the centre and also inspected kitchen, toilets and a hall in the basement which were found in the most unhygienic condition harmful for the health. Information reveals that the organizers of the drug de-addiction centre used to charge amounts ranging between Rs 7 to Rs 32 thousand from the inmates lodged in the centre. Sunita Dhaka said that the parents of the youths lodged in the centre were sent messages to take their wards but out of ta otal number of 32 only 13 parents arrived till Monday night to take the youths, which were handed over after after a medical examination at Community Health Centre, Chaurmastpur. Information also reveals that the police has started searching for both organizers of the illegally running centre hired premises at the monthly rent Rs 20000, will be sealed after shifting remaining inmates to another centres run by the government till they are handed over to their famillies. According to information, a case will be registered against the organizers under sections 420 (cheating), 342 (wrongful confinement), 347 (wrongfully confines any person for the purpose of extorting), 120-B ( criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code
