Hyderabad: A 17-year-old first-year Intermediate student died due to suspected drug overdose in Balapur on April 19. The incident came to light on Monday following the arrest of two people, including a medical shop owner, who allegedly supplied the pharmaceutical drug — CP-DOL 100 — to the victim and his two friends. The latter also took ill after consuming the drug and are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
According to police, the teenager fell sick on April 17 on returning home after meeting his friends. “He initially started vomiting. When his mother asked him if he had consumed something, he told her that he had injected himself with a concoction of tablets (dissolved in saline water) and insulin,” said a police official, adding that the Inter student even confessed to having injected it occasionally in the past.
“After repeated vomiting, the boy fell unconscious and was shifted to a private hospital. He was later moved to the Osmania Gandhi Hospital where he succumbed two days later,” police said.
The boy’s father, who works in Dubai, returned to Hyderabad only to find his son dead.
“It is a case of overdose of CP-DOL-100 which is a painkiller,” said P Lakshmikanth Reddy, ACP, Maheshwaram. Following a complaint by the victim’s family, police arrested Sahil, a friend and supplier, and Praveen Kumar, owner of the Shamshabad-based medical shop, Siromani Jagannadham.
Police said Sahil befriended vulnerable youth and initiated them into use of drugs through injections. Initially, Sahil used to supply the drug for free, but once a youth got addicted to it, he would start charging money. Sahil used to illegally buy medicine from Praveen Kumar without any prescription.
The arrested duo have been booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 278 (sale of drug as a different drug or preparation), 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) of BNS and Sec 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, Balapur police said.
Meanwhile, distraught family members of the teenager said they are still grappling to come to terms with his death. “He was just like any other youngster studying and enjoying his life. We don’t know how he got into drug abuse. I appeal to the authorities concerned to take strict action against the accused,” said his uncle, adding that the family was clueless about the medical shop from where the deceased bought drugs.