Plus-Two students from a Thrissur school, on a field trip to Munnar and Kodaikanal, were reported to the Juvenile justice Board after they asked for matchbox to light ganja beedi at an excise enforcement office in Adimaly.
Published Oct 23, 2024 | 1:10 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 23, 2024 | 2:20 PM
The students did not initially see the board. They mistook the office for a workshop after seeing seized vehicles parked on its premises. (Supplied)
Scene Contra and Scene Dark are colloquial phrases used mostly by the youth in Kerala to refer to an unexpected negative situation.
A few students of a Thrissur-based aided school found themselves in such a scene after two of them walked into what looked like a vehicle workshop.
They cannot be blamed, for the place looked like a workshop with many vehicles rusting in peace amidst the ubiquitous Communist pachcha — or Jack in the Bush that goes by the binomial nomenclature of Chromolaena odorata.
The boys, both aged 17, approached the first man they saw with a request.
“Yo bro, got a light,” one of them asked, raising a beedi even as the bewildered man looked up at them, so stunned that he was left speechless by their daring act.
Their act, incidentally, was one which the most notorious goon in Kerala would not dare to do. The man’s silence made the boys look around to see another man in a khaki uniform watching them with startling curiosity.
Realising that it was scene contra, the boys took to heels which made the men suspicious. The students were soon chased down.
While returning to the “workshop” with the men gripping their hands, the boys — pleading to be let off — saw the board fixed to one of the pillars of the building,
“Narcotics Enforcement Squad Office, Adimali,” the board read. The boys then knew that the scene had turned dark. They had missed the board earlier since they had taken the rear entrance.
Earlier, two buses ferrying Plus-Two students of the Thrissur school on a field trip to Munnar and Kodaikanal had stopped near the office.
After breakfast, the two boys, along with a few friends decided to have a drag of the ganja-filled beedi they had with them.
Since they did not have a lighter or matchbox, they decided to borrow one, and two of them sauntered into the excise department’s office.
A pat down of the students led to the confiscation of five grams of cannabis and a gram of hashish oil.
“Some 10 to 15 students had planned to use ganja during the tour. They had even created a WhatsApp group to coordinate and pooled money—each contributing around ₹100 to ₹200—for buying cannabis and hashish oil,” Excise Circle Inspector Ragesh B Chirayath told South First.
The officers immediately alerted the teachers, who were stunned by the incident, and contacted the students’ parents.
The two students caught with contraband were charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and the Juvenile Justice Board was notified.
The remaining students, including some girls who were checked with the assistance of female officers, were given counseling and awareness sessions.
Ragesh said many students had planned to try ganja for the first time during the trip. They had also arranged to stay together in a single room and use the substances under the guise of tour fun.
When asked if further inquiry would be conducted to trace the source, Ragesh said that the ganja and hashish oil had reached the students by changing hands three-four times and it was difficult to track the trail.
However, he added that the Thrissur Excise wing has been alerted and an inquiry has been initiated.
Though the officers’ quick intervention likely saved the children from deeper trouble, the incident was a stark reminder of the growing need for substance abuse awareness among youngsters.
Earlier, a study carried out by the Excise Department among 600 adolescents found that 97% of them have used some kind of drugs, 27.5% among the total have sold the drugs while using them and 7% were involved in trafficking the same.
It also found that 82% of the adolescents who are under the study use ganja and 78% of the adolescents use or supply or transport drugs or other substances out of curiosity, and 72% due to peer influence.
In short, while they might have been looking for just a little fun, they ended up playing with one far bigger than they had bargained for.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
