Hyderabad's newly thriving drug culture under the nose of police

Hyderabad CP CV Anand reportedly vented his ire at Banjara Hills ACP Sudarshan and Inspector Sivachandra for being negligent in performing their duties, even leading to the suspension of Sivachandra.

Hyderabad: The death of a man due to a drug overdose in Banjara Hills on Saturday has put the illegal drug supply in Hyderabad under the limelight. The increasing party culture in the city, especially over the weekends, has become an easy gateway for the selling and consumption of drugs. The weekend 'liquor parties', arranged mostly in the pubs in chief city areas as well as at farmhouses on the outskirts of Hyderabad, are on the Hyderabad Police's radar these days.

Hyderabad Police have been conducting frequent raids on such parties over the past few months in the wake of Chief Minister KCR's orders passed in October last year to bust the drug racket. However, the recent incident has left ample scope for doubts over the efforts the police are putting into eliminating such crimes. Hyderabad CP CV Anand reportedly vented his ire at Banjara Hills ACP Sudarshan and Inspector Sivachandra for being negligent in performing their duties, even leading to the suspension of Sivachandra. The CM himself has shown anxiety over the recent happening, while many celebrities have also been caught being an active part of these drug rackets.

How and Where?

In the past, most of the youth from Hyderabad would go to places like Goa, Bengaluru, and Mumbai for weekend celebrations. But these 'celebrations' seem to be going on in full swing in Hyderabad these days. These parties, well-known to the people who are keen on attending them, are arranged and popularised online through websites and other social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram, as the police officials have informed. The websites also reportedly take notice of the drug demands and arrange so accordingly. Reports and investigations done on the matter in the past suggest that the supply of drugs is facilitated from out of Hyderabad. A similar drug supply racket was exposed when the Panjagutta police had interrogated Tony, a drug peddler who was arrested in Mumbai a few days ago.

3-star and 5-star hotels - usual venues for a reason

The drug consumption and business carried out under the garb of liquor parties have some frequent venues, most of which are bars at three and five-star hotels in the city. The Telangana Excise Department has recently allowed most of the bars in the three and five-star hotels to continue for 24 hours until September 2022. For this availability, the department will be charging a license fee of Rs 52,66,700 for the management of a bar and restaurant, and an additional Rs 14 lakhs for running the bar for 24 hours. The organizers of these parties also pay extra at these bars as excise tax, while the bar supplies them with liquor any time that they desire.

The party organizers are using the Telangana Excise Department's decision to their total advantage. Many of them are renting out entire bars and converting them into drug supply platforms. The death of the man in Banjara Hills has now made the police beef up their investigation and take a closer and more stringent look into the matter to eliminate such practices in the city.