Himachal Intensifies Anti-Chitta Drive Amid Rising Drug Abuse

At least 11 drug overdose deaths; one addict — the only son of his family — died by suicide; another youth, the son of a prominent citizen, was forced into a de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation centre, where he eventually broke free from addiction.

These are not isolated episodes in Bilaspur but fragments of a larger, unsettling pattern, where more than 200 cases were registered, and 327 persons were arrested on charges of drug peddling under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPC) Act, with disturbing reports about drug abuse cases on a steady rise among youths, teenagers, and students.

According to police data, during 2025 (January 1 to November 30), 1,967 cases under the NDPS Act were registered across Himachal Pradesh, which is around 28 per cent higher than the 1,537 cases recorded during the same period in 2024. Mandi led with 297 cases, followed by Shimla (255) and Bilaspur (233), while 2,807 persons were arrested, including 110 women, highlighting both the rapid spread of chitta and a disturbing shift in trafficking patterns.

Public Mobilisation Against Drugs

Last week, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu finally took the stage at Bilaspur to lead an anti-drug rally-cum-walkathon, a comprehensive public movement he has launched in the state to organise students, teachers, and parents for a decisive fight against “Chitta”, a highly addictive synthetic drug (heroin) that has become a severe and growing menace in Himachal Pradesh.

This marked the fourth high-priority public mobilisation, following similar drives in Shimla, Dharamshala, and Hamirpur, his home district, now reaching Bilaspur to wage a determined and combative battle for a “Chitta-free Himachal.”

The Chief Minister admits that chitta addiction has seeped into both urban and rural areas, with several panchayats identified as highly affected. The Chitta menace in Himachal Pradesh is largely a spillover from neighbouring Punjab, where narcotics trafficked from Pakistan eventually make their way into the state.

“The situation is grim. Drugs, especially chitta, are preying on our youth, school students and young adults, acting as a slow poison that threatens the state’s future. My mission is to awaken this greatest force, our youth and students. Once they rise, every agency and citizen will stand united in this war against the drug mafia and peddlers,” says Sukhu.

Spread Across Districts

Bilaspur town, perched on the banks of Govind Sagar Lake, was rebuilt after the original settlement was submerged during the dam’s construction in the 1960s. Today, however, Bilaspur confronts a different kind of submergence, one that threatens to engulf its younger generation.

Bilaspur appears tranquil, but the calm is deceptive, and so are the neighbouring districts of Mandi. The neighbouring districts include Una, Solan, Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, and Kullu.

A similar picture emerges in Shimla, the state’s capital, and across its remote rural belt—Rohru, Rampur, Theog, Jubbal, and Nerva—which are fairly developed and prosperous areas in the apple belt. Yet, beneath this, drugs are steadily arriving in their most desolate corners, trafficked through buses, private vehicles, and motorbikes.

The data maintained by the police reveals that as many as 1,967 cases under the NDPS Act have been registered across the state during 2025 (January 1 to November 30), which is 28 per cent higher than the 1,537 cases registered in 2024 during the same period.

Out of these total cases, as many as 297 have been registered in Mandi, the highest in the state, followed by Shimla, where as many as 255 cases under the NDPS Act have been registered in 2025.

Bilaspur reported 233 cases, while there were 208 in Kullu, 178 in Kangra, 168 in Sirmour, 108 in Hamirpur, 97 in Solan, 94 in Una, 89 in Chamba, 88 in Nurpur police district, 82 in Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh, 42 in Dehra police district, 23 in Kinnaur, and five in Lahaul and Spiti district.

Ironically, Lahual-Spiti and Kinnaur were two tribal districts that had zero cases until five years back, but now the drug peddling and substance abuse have started gaining their foothold in the remotest parts. Many attribute it to the influx of tourists, including those from Punjab.

Clinical studies done at Shimla’s IGMC hospital showed 60 per cent of patients arriving at OPDs admitted to being drug-dependent. Among these, 44 per cent were addicted to heroin and 11 per cent to alcohol.

Women In Trafficking Networks

Young girls and women are increasingly being drawn in as carriers, peddlers, and even consumers—a disturbing trend as indicated by the recent arrest of two women in Jubbal, confirms Director General of Police Ashok Tewari.

According to him, out of 2,807 persons arrested under the NDPS Act as of October 2025, 110 were females, in addition to three foreign males. “The peddlers believe that engaging women will make their job easier to deliver the consignments. But, after we stepped up the vigil, the women are also getting caught with Chitta,” he says.

Shimla police data from the last six months showed that several women were among those arrested for involvement in the trade, both on the supply and distribution sides.

In Shimla alone, out of 221 peddlers, eight were women. A 23-year-old woman, along with two men, was caught with 4.2 g of chitta at Theog in Shimla. The district police, investigating an interstate chitta trafficking “Sandeep Shah gang,” arrested a woman lawyer from Shimla, who was allegedly involved in the drug smuggling network.

The arrest came after police gathered evidence linking her to the distribution and financial/logistic support of the gang’s operations.

“In the same investigation, around 36 people were arrested, including three women, and police identified about 25 women believed to be part of or connected to the drug supply chain,” a senior police official confirmed.

Two women named Kulwant Kaur and Germanpreet Kaur were arrested by Himachal Pradesh Police at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, while trying to flee to Canada; they were linked to sourcing chitta for traffickers whose vehicle was stopped in Dharamsala earlier.

A woman drug supplier was arrested at Bindravan (Palampur), while another MBA-qualified woman was caught supplying chitta at a hotel in Una. She was in the drug trade for several months.

At Bhuntar in Kullu, police arrested two women, a 36-year-old and another 21-year-old. Further, at Nurpur in Kangra, a woman and daughter-in-law were arrested at village Chhanni peddling chitta.

Police data previously showed that in six months (up to mid-2024), eight women were among 221 drug peddlers arrested in the Shimla region, indicating women participation in distribution networks. At least two dozen other women are on the police radar for their suspected roles in trafficking networks.

Crackdown And Community Response

“The rising drug menace has put the future of the youth at stake. It has also started creating law and order problems as addicts (youth —both boys and girls), to fund their doses, resort to thefts and burglaries and assault parents, including their grandparents, to rob them of their savings, jewellery and valuables. Few borrow money from acquaintances on the pretext of paying college or university fees but spend this to buy drug doses,” DGP Ashok Tewari says.

That is why, he says, the Chief Minister’s anti-Chitta drive has started getting public support. Parents are reaching out to the police and sharing information about the involvement of people and suspicious gangs, as well as government officials. School and college students have joined hands with the police as they have become aware of the dangerous side of drugs.

“My strategy is three-pronged. First, a zero-tolerance policy for drugs; second, strong enforcement of laws; and third, prevention and rehabilitation. The police have been empowered to carry out preventive arrests of suspects, intensify intelligence-led crackdowns on peddlers, dismantle supply chains, and attach/demolish properties created through drug money under stringent NDPS provisions,” Sukhu informed.

The targeted campaigns involving parents, teachers, panchayats, and youth groups are underway in schools, colleges, and vulnerable communities. The last pillar is treatment and rehabilitation, i.e., plans to expand de-addiction, counselling, and mental health services.

At the Bilaspur anti-Chitta rally, Mast Ram Rana, 83, a retired army subedar said the CM’s drive has started making a strong impact. Families with young children and teenagers are worried about their children falling into drug use, and some have seen how drugs have destroyed households. They want a major crackdown on the mafia that supplies this deadly substance and turns young children into addicts.

But Krishna, a panchayat pradhan, accuses the police of having a nexus with drug peddlers. “We want the Chief Minister to weed out such elements from the police force or those in the government. Only then will the measures to end this menace be effective,” he demands, while the Chief Minister also admits to having CID reports about the involvement of some police personnel and government employees in the illegal drug trade.

“I have directed a thorough inquiry, and if the allegations are proved, strict action will follow, including dismissal from service or arrests,” he warned.

Many panchayats in the state have announced a social boycott of people involved in the drug trade. Several panchayats have decided to impose a fine on people involved in the drug trade.

“I have asked the panchayats to hold a special gram sabha on an exclusive agenda of drugs, while rallies/walkathons at district levels by me will continue,” the Chief Minister announced, announcing a reward scheme of Rs 5000 to Rs 5 lakhs for those sharing information on drug peddling.

A unified Special Task Force has been set up under the home department, giving it a free hand to carry out operations against the drug mafia and dismantle the entire supply chain—from peddlers and couriers to financiers and kingpins.

Balbir Thakur, retired IPS, who has served as Superintendent of Police at Kangra, Sirmaur, and Bilaspur, attributes the arrival of chitta in Himachal Pradesh to a spillover of Punjab’s drug smuggling racket. Thakur says that until the 1990s, he was struggling to fight the menace of charas, drawn from wildly growing cannabis weed. It was the Kullu district, especially the Parvati valley, notorious worldwide for the production of the world’s best charas. Malana cream, grown in the ancient landlocked village Malana, had the highest global demand.

“The drug (chitta) is frequently sourced from criminal networks based in Punjab, then transported into Himachal Pradesh for distribution. In recent drug busts, Punjab residents have been arrested for supplying chitta to Himachal gangs,” says Sanjeev Gandhi, SSP Shimla.

Many smuggling networks involve individuals from Faridkot, Amritsar, Kharar, etc., who bring heroin into districts like Shimla, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Kangra, Kullu, and Mandi. Punjab, being a border state, has been a hub for illegal drug supply chains from Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan through all routes—surface, water (rivers), and aerial (drones).