With the death of an engineering student in his hostel room at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Hamirpur after a suspected overdose of a drug, has exposed the alarming menace of drug addiction spreading among students and youths of Himachal Pradesh.
The death of an M Tech student Sujal Sharma from a suspected overdose of a drug was reported on Monday when he was found dead in his hostel room. As per reports a suspected drug peddler was staying with him in the hostel and fled after the incident.
The police have detained three students staying in the NIT hostel with drugs in their possession indicating the use of drugs by some of the hostlers. A peddler has also been arrested by the police near the institute’s premises accused of selling drugs to the students and still trying to nab the peddler staying with the deceased.
It is quite strange how the use of drugs in the hostel and presence of a peddler went unnoticed from the eyes of security personnel deployed there by the NIT authorities.
SP Hamirpur Dr Akriti Sharma said, “We are trying to reach the drug peddlers involved in selling drugs to students near educational institutions and every effort would be made to save the students from the drug abuse.”
She said, ” During checking of hostel rooms in the NIT campus 69.38 grams charas has been recovered from a student Sushil Mishra and 42. 96 grams charas from other hostlers who have been booked under the NDPS Act; four persons accused of supplying drugs to deceased Sujal Sharma , namely Rajat Sharma , Ishant Rana , Varnit Verma and Varun Sharma have been booked under section 304 of IPC on the complaint of father of the deceased holding them responsible for death of Sujal Sharma.”
Meanwhile the NIT authorities have also reviewed security arrangements in the hostels and in the NIT premises to bar entry of outsiders and also keep a strict vigil on the activities of the students.