AHMEDABAD: Beggars can’t be choosers. And, when the drug mafia in the city decides to trial their new synthetic drugs, this saying turns quite literal. An on-ground investigation by TOI has revealed that the drug mafia are targeting beggars to try their narcotic pills and powders to check its effect and efficacy.
If the drug ‘trial’ succeeds, then it is introduced to other people through the black market for drugs. And, if it doesn’t, no one is the wiser about the beggars, who are already a faceless entity -- their presence registering only when you hear their whining voice or their grimy hand on your sleeve.
The mafia usually picks up beggars and homeless people from the walled city areas as well as railway stations and bus terminuses. In many cases, the drugs put the beggars in a life-threatening situation.
Salim Mohammed’s home is the footpath outside Kalupur railway station. The 38-year-old begs for a living. His vice is smoking ganja but when another beggar who lives on the same footpath recently offered him a new drug, he decided to give it a try. Within minutes though, he began vomiting and bleeding from the nose.
A witness, refusing to be named, said, “Another beggar called Raja, a 40-year-old with whom Mohammed used to smoke ganja, gave him a tablet. This happened in the first week of August. Raja said that the tablet would give them a pleasant feeling.
“Mohammed took the tablet. Within half an hour, he began vomiting. Soon, he began bleeding from the nose, too. This continued for two days. Then, an unidentified man came and inquired about him. He took Mohammed to a doctor who gave him some medication. Mohammed’s condition improved after that.”
Mahesh Dantani, who lives on the footpath in Khamasa, was given some powder-like stuff to snort. The 25-year-old earns his livelihood by working as a daily wage labourer. When he gets no job, he turns to begging. Some days ago, someone gave him a new drug which turned him violent. He banged his hands repeatedly on a wall so hard that he fractured both his limbs.
Similarly, Mehrunnisa Shaikh, 24, who lives near Sarangpur bridge with her five-month-old daughter was given a tablet by two unidentified men who convinced her that it would save her from various diseases. “I consumed the tablet with water. The men then gave us some milk which my daughter and I consumed. After 15 minutes, I began feeling giddy. It felt as if the Sarangpur bridge was going to fall on me. I stayed in that state of delirium for around a day,” she said.
“When I gained consciousness around one and a half days later, I found my baby’s health condition had deteriorated since I had not fed her properly,” she added.
Raju Rohit, 24, and Rekha Kumari, 20, who live on the footpaths in Kalupur and Panjrapol areas respectively also had similar experiences.
Rohit was given a tablet which he crushed and snorted. He lost consciousness for 2-3 days.
Rekha, who cannot even speak her name properly, said that various men constantly provided new drugs for her to consume and snort. “After taking these narcotics, I am unable to act, walk, or speak properly. When I do not get the drug, I slit my hand with blades,” she said, showing a blade in her hand.
A crime branch officer said that they have come to know of such a modus operandi by drug mafias but are yet to file a complaint regarding such incidents.
