Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 17: Karnataka home minister, G Parameshwara, said that the government is thinking on the lines of adopting the Goan model in the matter of deporting Nigerian students and citizens who are involved with trafficking of drugs including ganja and heroin.

The minister was replying to a question raised by BJP member, V Somanna, at the legislative council on Thursday March 16 during question hour. "In Goa, the government has been following the procedure of dropping cases lodged against people involved with drug trade to facilitate their immediate deportation. We will get details of the scheme from our neighbouring state and study it with the objective of checking the practicability of following the same method in Karnataka," he stated.

Parameshwara noted that in normal course, Nigerians who come to the city in the guise of pursuing study, have to go back to their country at the end of the term. "However, many are illegally living in the city after expiry of their visas. The union department of external affairs is expected to keep a check on such people. But this procedure is not being properly followed. As such, we have been pooling information about such students studying in schools and colleges falling within different police stations in the city," he explained.

"23 cases were registered in 13 police stations of the city during the three years ended February 2017 against Nigerian operatives peddling drugs. So far, 31 Nigerians have been arrested relating to these cases," Parameshwara said.

Somanna pointed out that about 850 Nigerians staying in the city illegally need to be deported. He criticized the government for its inertia in regulating drug menace which is going on near schools, colleges, Chitrakala Parishat etc. He urged the government to instill a sense of confidence among police personnel who show commitment to act to crush the drug traffickers.

The minister said that a Nigerian couple living in an apartment at Jayanagar here used to send chocolates containing drugs through their children to school, which were distributed free of cost to other children. "The children then started to crave for these chocolates. The situation came to such a pass that the parents came under pressure to buy these chocolates for the children," Parameshwara stated. He also said that some pharmaceutical companies are minting money by producing tablets containing drugs, adding that the government is committed to regulate sale of drugs.