Addicts demand affordable drugs from Bareilly SP

BAREILLY: A group of around 20 drug addicts laid siege to the office of SP (City) on Friday demanding supply of heroin and other drugs at affordable prices. They threatened to end their life if their demand was not met.
Talking to TOI, Rajeev Malhotra, Bareilly’s SP (City) said, “I was appalled at the condition of these persons, who are not criminals but sick people in need of medical treatment and counseling.” The SP said he persuaded the group to give up addiction and seek help of de-addiction centres and counselors.
However a section of the group refused to budge from the spot, insisting that the police should crackdown on some local chemists who were selling the prohibited drugs at ten times the actual price. They said they would not leave till they were given their daily fix.
The development is seen as a fallout of police crackdown on drug peddlers and mafia in the region. A number of NGOs and human rights groups are also actively campaigning against drug addiction in the city.