Authorities Gear Up to Tackle Drug Menace At IIT-Kanpur

Several students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) have been found to be consuming various kinds of drugs that are supplied by private security guards and class four workers employed at the institute. The probe was conducted after authorities got specific inputs about nefarious activities going on in the campus.

Drugs such as surti (tobacco), smack, charas (cannabis) and ganja (hemp), are easily available at stalls outside the institute, Mail Today reported citing sources.

IIT-K Director Manindra Agarwal said that the institute plans to hold counselling sessions for students, according to media reports. The number of students addicted could be higher than the current estimates of a few dozen students using prohibited substances.

“No one is allowed to come inside the campus without a proper check,” Agarwal said. “However, there is a locality called Nankari. The approaching road to it passes through our campus and it is always open. It is possible that peddlers are using this route and we are preparing to close this route and arrange for another passage for the residents.”

He added: “We do not want outsiders to access hostels and therefore have decided to provide a separate passage to the locals of Nankari and Barasirhoi villages to reach their destinations instead of passing through the main entrance of the institute.”

The college administration also held a meeting with the district magistrate and senior police officials of Kanpur regarding the matter. District Magistrate Surendra Singh asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct searches and see if pharmacies are selling certain banned drugs unlawfully, the Hindustan Times reported. In a clean-up operation, raids were conducted at pharmacies and some shops around the institute.

A huge quantity of hemp was earlier recovered from a private security guard of the institute, sources told Mail Today. He was subsequently arrested by the Kalyanpur police after a tip-off about two months ago.

The inputs have been passed to the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU). “A team of the LIU has been given the task to investigate the menace and we hope that they will come up with some positive results,” Singh informed the media.

The premier institute, meanwhile, has issued a notice banning cigarettes and paan masala.