Illegal de-addiction raided, 22 ‘patients’ rescued

Ludhiana: Hathur police have rescued 22 persons who were undergoing "de-addiction treatment" at an illegally run rehabilitation centre in the area and have registered a case against the in-charge of the facility. The accused has been identified as Simranpreet Singh, a resident of Godwal village in Raikot tehsil.The case was registered on the complaint of Dr Davinder Singh Sandhu, senior medical officer (SMO) of the community health centre (CHC), Sudhar. He stated that on April 5, a joint medical and police team was constituted on the orders of the deputy medical commissioner, Ludhiana. The team was led by DSP Harjinder Singh and comprised officials from the health department and Punjab Police.According to the complainant, the joint team conducted a raid at a house located on Manuke Road in Jhorda village of Raikot tehsil in Ludhiana district. During inspection, an unauthorised de-addiction and rehabilitation centre was found to be operating from the premises.Dr Sandhu said 22 persons were found to be staying in the centre and undergoing de-addiction treatment. The accused, Simranpreet Singh, who was running the centre, was also present at the spot. The complainant alleged that Simranpreet Singh failed to provide any government-certified documents authorising him to run the rehabilitation centre. It was also found during the inspection that no psychiatrists or psychologists were present at the facility, which is mandatory for such centres.Health department sources said that medicines were recovered from the premises during the raid and one of the medicines was found to be expired.Dr Sandhu said that all the recovered medicines were handed over to the police team by the joint inspection team. He clarified that as per their labels, none of the medicines presently fall under the provisions of the NDPS Act. He added that complete technical opinion regarding the medicines can be given only after the test reports are received and legal opinion is sought from the district attorney.Police officials said that at present, Simranpreet Singh has been found guilty of offences under Section 318(4) (cheating-related offence) and Section 127(2) (wrongful confinement) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The charges were applied for allegedly keeping 22 persons in captivity without government permission on the pretext of providing de-addiction treatment.Further investigation in the case is underway.