The Excise department has stepped up its presence near college campuses and hostels across Ernakulam with the formation of two clubs to tackle the drug menace.
While the club for campuses is called ‘Nerkoottam’, that for hostels is called ‘Sradha’. The club for campuses comprises representatives of the college, students, and Excise, whereas the club for hostels also comprises the warden.
“Initially, we started the clubs at institutions under the Kerala University of Health Sciences before expanding them to other colleges. Now, almost all colleges and hostels in the district have the respective clubs,” said Sunu C., Assistant Excise Commissioner in charge of Vimukthi in Ernakulam.
Apart from conducting awareness classes, information on substance abuse is forthcoming through these clubs, leading to frequent inspections at campuses and hostels. “The inspections are carried out with prior approval of the college authorities to avert complications. We try to convince students that the inspections are not meant to humiliate them but to keep them safe from drugs. Notwithstanding such assurances, Excise officials face resistance in many cases,” said Mr. Sunu.
The Excise department is also trying to build contacts among security officials and wardens at campuses and hostels so as to ensure timely alerts about the movement or use of drugs. Earlier this year, a third year engineering student was nabbed with nine LSD stamps, which qualified as commercial quantity, from a campus in Kochi. The student was since then expelled and spent over a month behind bars before being released on bail.
“The inspections are not devoid of challenges though. We cannot enter campuses in plainclothes since students may challenge us, whereas when we turn up in uniform, message spreads across the campus about our arrival, giving them ample time to hide the stuff. Even without this handicap, synthetic drugs are not easy to detect,” said an Excise official with a shadow enforcement squad.
He said drug rackets had their own contacts among the student community. Once they smuggle in the stuff, they send messages to these contacts who take delivery and distribute it in a jiffy, making enforcement tough.
