Action initiated against drug addicts in Mumbai: govt

Alarmed by growing menace of drug addicts in the city, the government has started taking action against them, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said today.
"We have started taking action against the drug addicts in the city. However, the question is where to keep them," he said, talking to reporters.
All the accused in the recent case of gang-rape of photojournalist in Mumbai were drug-addicts, who used to hang out at the Shakti Mill Compound where the incident took place.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, and attended by Patil, Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal and top officials from the Forensic Science Laboratory, was held today.

The meeting came against the backdrop of the state's dismal conviction rate, increase in sexual assault and rape cases, and increasing menace of drug addicts in the city.
According to an officer who was present, Patil stated in the meeting that police can easily round up all the drug addicts in the city within two days, but the problem was where to keep them subsequently.
Another issue that was discussed in the meeting was functioning of forensic science laboratories in the state. The Chief Minister mentioned that Gujarat and Rajasthan had set up forensic science universities.
In Maharashtra, FSL was facing a high employee attrition rate. "Chavan was told that as the employees are not made permanent, they tend to quit," the officer said.