Hyderabad: The crackdown on drug usage by the city police seems to have scared party goers and night owls in the city, who are now afraid of being either randomly picked up by cops or shooed away from establishments while out late at night. Managements of clubs are a little concerned since officials of the state Narcotics Bureau can turn up anytime, especially between gigs and pick up anyone they suspect of doing drugs.
Case in point is an incident from last week wherein a DJ was picked up midway during his gig at a club in Hyderabad by the police. Similarly, the police have also reportedly begun calling in people they suspect of using drugs based on names provided by others taken in for questioning. The clampdown has seemingly gotten harder ever since actor Aman Preet Singh was arrested along with others in a case pertaining to cocaine usage.
Aman Preet, who is Tollywood actor Rakul Preet Singh’s brother, was arrested along with four others by Hyderabad Police. The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Department acted on information that 2.6 kgs of cocaine was being brought to Hyderabad for sale and Aman Preet was reportedly one among several of identified customers.
“Nobody is saying that the police should not do their job. But if people just want to go out to a club or any event for drinks or just to hang out with friends, they should not have to be in fear of getting randomly checked by the police. It is embarrassing and also bad for the brand of Hyderabad,” said Akshara (name changed), who felt that there should be a procedure if the police suspect anything illegal is going on.
Another party goer who did not want to be named, also said that they were choosing to stay indoors for a while in case they have to face any unpleasant situations.
While drug consumption is a serious matter, the Hyderabad police seem to be also scaring citizens who prefer to go out late in the night. “I was out with someone to eat ice cream late at night. The cops came to shut down the place and while doing so they targetted the person I was with,” said a young woman from the city about her experience in the last few weeks.
While some hotel owners said that the police has in fact eased up on shutting down establishments much before midnight, a few others said that the cops at times try to insist on closing places by 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m.
A senior police official, who also did not want to be quoted, said that the higher ups in the government have given the go ahead to severely clamp down on drugs, hence the increased raids on pubs and clubs.
