ANF chief refutes Shehryar Afridi's claim on drug use by Islamabad students

PTI Senator Fida Muhammad claims students consume drugs more frequently during examinations

ISLAMABAD: Anti-narcotics force ( ANF) Director General Major General Arif Malik has dismissed State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi’s claim that 75% of students in Islamabad's educational institutions were drug addicts.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Maj-Gen Malik said around five per cent students were reportedly consuming drugs in the federal capital.

In response to the question about the state minister’s earlier claim that 75 per cent of female students and 45% male students in the federal capital being drugs addicts, he remarked that the increase in the number of students consuming drugs had witnessed only a nominal increase.

No nexus had been traced between the illicit drug trade income and the terrorism either, the ANF DG added.



On the other hand, the Senate Committee on Government Assurances expressed concerns over the use of drugs in educational institutions in a meeting earlier in the day. PTI's Senator Fida Muhammad claimed that students use drugs more frequently during their examinations.

Meanwhile, Senator Krishna Kumari said that local people were involved in the supply of drugs to the educational institutions, which she added should be halted at the earliest.

The Senate body also suggested to the Ministry of Education to conduct a survey in the capital's institutions regarding the use of drugs by students.



Earlier, the Private School Association Network (PSAN) had slammed Afridi's claim.

PSAN President Afzal Babar had said that the survey quoted by the minister was based on a sample and that there was a difference in research-based reports.

He called for setting up a private committee to probe the matter to ascertain real figures and to make the research public.