n a horrifying incident that took place on April 15, a man killed six members of his family including his parents, his sister, aunt and nephew, in Mohalla Joyianwala, Township. It transpired that he might have been under the influence of ice (crystal meth), an intoxicating drug that is highly addictive.

According to the police, the accused — named Abid — shot dead his family members and then rushed to his in-laws’ place where he gunned down his father-in-law and wife’s aunt and injured his mother-in-law. The deceased were identified as Ghulam Hussain (Abid’s father), Asia (mother), Raheela (sister), Humayun (nephew), Shagufta (wife’s aunt), and Aslam (father-in-law). The police arrested the suspect and recovered the weapon, a gun, from his possession.

As per the police investigation, Abid flared up over some domestic issue and opened fire with an automatic weapon. Later, he fled the scene in his car.

It is pertinent to mention here that this isn’t the first incident of its kind in the city. A number of incidents of cold-blooded homicide have been reported in which the killers took the lives of their near and dear ones. In some cases, they also killed themselves. Nearly all these crimes were committed under the influence of either ice or cocaine, which points to the criminally easy access to drugs in our society.

In a similar incident that happened in Nawankot in April last year, a man named Bilal, reportedly a mobile phone game player who was addicted to ice, got provoked when his mother warned him against the use of drugs, and gunned down four people, including his family members. His brother and sister were killed on the spot while his sister-in-law and a passerby were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

In a city of over 11 million people, the 16- to 40-year-olds are routinely becoming addicted to one kind of drug or another. They can be spotted lying about under the influence in parks and sidewalks across the provincial capital, particularly at sunrise. Some are openly found using syringes and consuming marijuana, heroin, or crystal methamphetamine. Many of them end up losing their lives. Reportedly, at least 460 drug addicts died in the streets and parks of Lahore last year.

A number of incidents of cold-blooded homicide have been reported in which the killers took the lives of their near and dear ones. In some cases, they also killed themselves. Nearly all these murders were committed under the influence of either ice or cocaine.

The parks in Taxali, Azadi Chowk, Lahore Hotel Chowk, Royal Park, Qila Gujjar Singh, Ravi Road, Iqbal Town, Chowk Yateem Khana, Thokar Niaz Baig, Ravi Road, and the areas adjacent to the Lahore Fort and the Badshahi Masjid have virtually become safe havens for both the drug addicts and drug peddlers.

Apart from drug traffickers, certain medical stores in the city are accused of selling banned substances for the lure of money.

It may be mentioned here that a number of complaints of casual drug use at a well-known educational institution in the city have been made under cover by the authorities, but the police and the Anti-Narcotics Force don’t seem to have done anything about it.

On the other hand, the police claim to have registered 4,747 cases against drug pushers in the year so far. More than 4,800 accused in drug trafficking cases have been arrested.

Ali Jafferi, a police inspector, claims that apprehending the addicts isn’t a difficult task but “our efforts go in vain when they hurt themselves the minute they are arrested. When they are rushed to the hospital, they try to escape.

“It’s a tricky situation,” he says. “When addicts attempt to kill themselves in the lock-up, we get blamed for it.”

Jafferi says that 80 per cent of the drugs in the city are “ordered through mobile phones, chiefly WhatsApp.”

r Ejaz Ahmed Warraich, a psychiatrist at Jinnah Hospital, tells TNS that it usually starts as fun: “A person will take it once for joy or to join his peers, but soon he begins to hunger for the drug, till he becomes physically and psychologically dependent on it.”

According to Dr Warraich, the drugs give you a temporary high but leave devastating aftereffects. Gradually, the person who’s doing drugs becomes detached from reality. As they increase the dose, they may be compelled to go to any extent to fulfill their deep desires. “The addict loses ‘insight’ as his body’s defences collapse. As a result, he can even kill his own family members and feel no remorse.”

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at ahsanzia155@gmail.com