Morung Express News
Kohima | September 21
A viral video which surfaced recently showed a group of young people being interrogated by ‘colony youths’ for alleged possession and consumption of ‘sunflower’ drug. A message accompanying the video on various social media platforms including WhatsApp stated that the youths being questioned were 'caught' at Lower AG colony, Kohima.
The Kohima Police took cognizance of the video and had made enquiries to confirm the incident.
However, police told The Morung Express that no intervention was made as they were told by the colony youth leaders that it has made an “undertaking with the parents of the persons involved in the incident after a meeting.”
“Since they did not inform us and we made enquiry from our end, we have not made any intervention. We may assume that parents were reluctant to forward the case to the Police given the penalty under NDPS Act,” the police said.
Meanwhile, Lower AG Youth President, Daniel Aier told this newspaper that the colony members “caught drug peddlers and drug users” and one or two members who were in the vicinity had taken the video, causing it to go viral.
The colony leader informed that on the night, 7 persons involved in supply or sale and consumption of the drug were caught and till now 13 persons (users & peddlers) linked to the incident and belonging to different colonies in Kohima have been ‘caught’ by them so far. He said that they were “teenagers or adolescent youths.”
“The persons who were caught belong to different colonies, out of which 2 persons belonged to our colony. One was a peddler and the other a user. The peddler has been expelled for 7 years from the colony. As for the user, we are sending to detox, rehabilitation centres with the condition that until and unless they become fit and change, we will not let them enter the colony,” the Youth President disclosed.
The person who had taken the video and shared it has also been identified and ‘summoned for apology.’
When asked whether the case has been lodged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act, 1985 or other correctional centres or the Cyber Crime Cell, the youth leader said that the Police had called for enquiry.
“I told the police that the panchayat is taking up the case. If we conduct a case here and give it to the police, then it won't be good. I told the police that we are not going to punish or beat the persons but we are focusing on sending them to correctional homes,” he maintained.
The colony has not approached Cyber Crime cell, he said, adding that the persons will be summoned for apology which would be published in the print media.
