SARGODHA: Drug addiction is becoming a common feature in the district as most chowks and bus stands in Sargodha have been converted into key points for bootleggers and drug addicts to exchange illegal substances.

Drug addicts can commonly be seen injecting themselves with drugs outside shrines, sitting at bus stands and in most green belts scattered throughout the city.

Recently an Istiqlalabad resident Inamul Huq killed two of his younger brothers for refusing to let go of their drug habit.

Asim and Alam Sher had been long time users of heroin and when they failed to quit Inam slit their throats.

Akbar Abbas, the uncle of the deceased boys said that the two boys often stole to pay for drugs and Inam often quarreled with his brothers over their addiction. “He was wrong to do what he did, the way to deal with addiction is not to get rid of the addict but help him get rid of the addiction,” Abbas said, adding that Inam was unwilling to forgive his brothers for stealing from him.

“He wasn’t their enemy but he reacted to their condition and killed them,” he said.

Muhammad Khan, the boys’ grandfather said that society often refused to accept drug addicts but they seldom realised what the addict went through. “We cannot judge the addict because we don’t know what it is like to be in their shoes, they also know that they have become a burden but there are no health facilities for poor people to seek help from their drug addiction,” he said.

“The government needs to offer rehabilitation for such people, because there are thousands of drug users in this country and they often hail from very poor backgrounds,” Khan said, adding that dozens of people overdosed outside buildings and people didn’t even realise they were dead until much later.

Muhammad Azal, a 14-year-old addict said “death is far better than this life, I cannot stop myself.

I have often asked my mother to poison me and end her problems because there is no hospital or doctor willing to help me.”

On the other hand medical experts lay stress on bringing positive changes in the addict’s life that encourages them to seek treatment for their addiction. Sialkot special medicine clinic in charge Dr Sikandar Warraich said “we need to stop hating the addict and redirect that anger towards the drugs that are enslaving them. Drugs and illegal substances need to be checked strictly by the authorities and addicts need to be rehabilitated into society after undergoing medical treatment.”

The government needs to step in and address the crucial issue of drug abuse among both urban and rural youth in Pakistan.

Medical treatment and rehabilitation facilities need to be established at the grass root level to treat the expanding numbers of drug addicts in the district.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2010.

SARGODHA: In Bhalwal 11 prisoners, scheduled to be presented before the court, managed to escape from the court’s adjoining waiting room.

The prisoners were being held under miscellaneous charges including multiple counts of murder, manslaughter, theft and others and were awaiting trial in the court. The inmates had been transported from the Shahpur jail. Bhalwal police brought the prisoners to the local tehsil court in the afternoon on May 18, 2010, and they were ordered to wait in the courts adjoining holding cell. The prisoners were kept in the holding cell for over an hour, when they broke a hole in the wall near the rest room and broke out one by one.

The prisoners broke out to find their accomplices waiting for them with a getaway car and motorcycles. RPO Javed Aslam, who had supervised the transport of the prisoners to the Bhalwal courts said that strict action would be taken against the guards on duty, who had failed to notice the escape of the prisoners. “These are hardened criminals and catching them again, will be twice as hard, seeing as they are probably on the lookout for the police this time around,” he said.

The prisoners include Abbas, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Qasim, Muhammad Akbar, Imtiaz Hussain, Muhammad Safdar, Sarfaraz, Muhammad Akhtar, Fayyaz and Ikftikhar. Between them, the convicted men were accused on six counts of murder, five robberies and 17 manslaughter cases. Sargodha district police officer (DPO) Dr Usman Anwar reached the scene and examined the waiting room and the damaged holding cell.

He said that special teams had been constituted for the arrest of the culprits, who were ‘seasoned criminals’ he said. “These teams will scour the district and apprehend these criminals,” he said. Anwar warned citizens to be on the lookout for the criminals, adding that some of the men were ‘extremely dangerous.’ Anwar said that the men had escaped with accomplices who had covered their faces with black cloth and were well armed. “It seems they were aware of the date of the hearing and the criminals had hatched the escape plan before hand.

That explains the level of coordination, as an entire entourage waited for the prisoners to escape the court,” he said. The police are holding the guards on duty in the court room, Sultan Sikandar and sub inspector Ejaz as responsible for the incident. “It is shameful, that the two guards failed to notice the escape of 11 men,” he said. “We suspect that the guards were either involved or were pressured by the prisoners somehow,” the DPO said, adding that a case had been registered against both guards in court and they had been taken into police custody.

Sargodha police has issued a statement and is planning to release of their sketches to the media, so that the public can assist in their re-capture. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the situation and has ordered that the criminals be arrested as soon as possible.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 19th, 2010.