Students aren't driving the city's mephedrone business anymore. Cops says 60% of Mumbai's bar dancers are addicted to the drug sold to them as energy booster and fat buster by pimps and peddlers
Not only are many bar dancers themselves hooked to the drug but are also getting others addicted. Representation pic
School and college students are no longer the only lot driving the city's mephedrone business. The quest for a size zero figure is leading bar dancers to consume the banned drug, also called meow meow in popular parlance. The Mumbai anti-narcotics cell (ANC) suspects that at least 60 per cent of the women are getting high on the drug in the hope of losing extra flab quickly and boosting their stamina to perform on the dance floor for long hours. This myth has been propagated by drug peddlers, say the city police.
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Police sources say most of them are unaware of the drug's hazardous effects.
An ANC officer says the police found out about this new customer base for meow meow with the arrest of a peddler by the Azad Maidan unit. During interrogation, he revealed the names of two bar dancers, including his girlfriend, who were his clients.
The girlfriend gave a glimpse into the drug's reach in the bar dancer community. "She said they consume it with flavoured paan masala," said the officer. "They believe that the drug helps them keep their weight under control and boost their stamina so that they can perform for long hours."
An immediate effect of the consumption of the drug lends credence to this weight loss myth -- the skin gets taut and the face gets a 'glow' (See box for other symptoms). But the drug is addictive and if taken in excess over six to eight months, it can even cause death. "The peddlers have spread myths among bar dancers to boost their market," says another official.
The police suspect at least 60% of bar dancers have turned addicts.
An Andheri bar owner says older performers are more vulnerable than the younger lot. "These women tend to put on weight. Peddlers trap them on the pretext that the drug can help them burn extra belly fat."
From the girlfriend, the police learnt about another bar dancer, Heena Thakur, a drug user and peddler. Thakur was arrested by the Nagpada police last month with 10 gm of meow meow and was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act. She is out on bail. The police suspect that Thakur helps dozens of bar dancers in Grant Road get access to the drug.
Nayana Saroj, an Andheri-based bar dancer, says the peddlers' ruse has worked. "This is their main selling point when it comes to pitching the drug to bar dancers."
Rita Singh, a bar dancer from Grant Road, says several of colleagues in Andheri, Borivli, Dahisar and Mira Road are addicted to the drug. "Many women have now started consuming it before hitting the dance floor."
Moni Rajbhar from a Dahisar dance bar says peddlers give the drug for free initially. She alleges that that in some bars, the management readily pays for the drug so that the women can perform for long hours. "The bar dancers function as point persons for dozens of others and help peddlers widen their customer base. In return, peddlers give free daily supplies to 'co-ordinators'."
Another ANC official says since bar dancers have no knowledge of 'drug purity', peddlers often get away by adulterating their supply. Adulterated drugs can prove even more harmful.
A bar dancer from the suburbs says since no one from the community has taken ill from consuming it yet, they use meow meow rampantly.
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