AMBALA:

The district police and administrative authorities have rescued 22 men from an illegal drug de-addiction centre being run in Langar Chhanni village in Saha area of Ambala district on Monday. The rescued persons were taken to civil hospital in Ambala Cantonment, from where 17 were handed over to their family members on Monday night while the rest were released on Tuesday.On receiving the information, the Ambala police raided the centre and asked the operators to present the documents but they failed to show any license or permission to run this facility. The operators belong to Punjab, said the police.An officer from Saha police station said, “A drug de-addiction centre was being run in the name of Will Power at Langar Chhanni village. When the police raided, the operators of the centre failed to produce any license or document. As many as 23 addicts were rescued from the spot and they were taken to civil hospital, Ambala Cantonment for treatment under the guidance of the doctors from the health department.”The police said that further action will be taken as per the report given by the officials of the health department.Ambala deputy civil surgeon Dr Mukesh said, “We received the information about the illegal drug de-addiction centre from the SP office. The centre operators have applied for the license but they have not received it yet, despite that they were running the centre which is illegal. We brought 23 people for medical examination and psychiatric evaluation and later they were handed over to their family members through the police.”