Rehab centres under scanner in Una district

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, September 16

The drug de-addiction centres in Una district are under the scanner of the police.

Sources here said the police had written to the State Mental Health Authority to check the abuse of drug addicts in the centres.

The district has about 35 registered de-addiction centres having 20 to 50 addicts in each centres. Most addicts were kept here from the adjoining Punjab.

SP Arjit Sen admitted that he had written to the authority to check the violations in the centres. The police had got a tip-off regarding the drug abuse in some centres. Officials surveyed various centres. Though no case of drug abuse was substantiated, various cases of violations of rules and regulations came to the notice, he said.

The SP said it was found that some centres had admitted 50 addicts whereas the permissions were given to keep just 25. This created inhuman conditions. A matter was brought to the notice of the police when an addict fell from the roof and died. The matter was being investigated by the police.

In Gagret also, a complaint had been received regarding the death of an addict due to ‘mishandling of the staff’. In Galuwal, an inmate was allegedly beaten up. Arjit Sen said since the centres were under the State Mental Health Authority, they had written to the authority to look into the violations in these centres.