Out of joint: Indiranagar a haunt for cannabis addicts

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The surge in the number of cannabis consumers has become a cause of concern for Indiranagar police, as well as the residents. It is a known fact that residents have been fighting with the authorities concerned to free their residential area from commercial activities.

It has become a routine for Indiranagar police on night beat to come across one or two people wandering on the streets after consuming cannabis. The police found them at places such as Double Road, BDA Complex, Cauvery School, ESI Hospital, Dr B.R. Ambedkar College and other areas adjacent to the Double Road.

The Indiranagar Police have registered 18 first information reports (FIRs) in two months - March and April - against people wandering in a suspicious manner after consuming cannabis. The FIRs were registered under the Section 27(b) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The punishment for consuming cannabis can invite imprisonment up to six months, or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both. “We are compelled to increase night beats at places known for cannabis consumers. We have been trying to dissuade them from consuming cannabis but in vain. Our police constables on night beat bring them to the station and later take them to a hospital for a medical test. If the medical test proves that the person consumed cannabis, we register a complaint and produce him in the court,’’ said an Indiranagar police Inspector.

The inspector said the number of cannabis consumers is increasing with more and more such people from nearby areas and the CBD area visiting Indiranagar. “Indiranagar has become the most happening locality. We are taking all measures to end this menace,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents, who have been fighting with the authorities concerned against commercialisation of their residential area, opine that police should and must act tough against those wandering on the streets at night.

A local resident, pleading anonymity, has said that people wandering on the streets in an inebriated condition have become a threat and danger for the residents. “I want the police to be more vigilant about the miscreants, drunkards and those wandering on the streets in an inebriated condition,” he said.

“The presence of such people is dangerous for society. We have been demanding the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities to close down commercial establishments opened against the norms. I am appealing to the BBMP as well as the state government to ensure residential areas as residential areas and not allow opening commercial shops or establishments,’’ said Sneha Nandihal of ‘i Change Indiranagar’, a federation of RWAs in and around Indiranagar.