PATIALA: Some unidentified

allegedly stole drugs and narcotic tablets meant for the treatment of the patients at the de-addiction centre of

.

The incident was caught on the

installed inside the de-addiction centre. The centre is located in the isolated areas of the hospital and is being run in a single room. There was no security guard at the center when the incident took place.

The matter came to light after the staff of the de-addiction centre reached on Wednesday morning to open the centre and found the medicines stolen away. The officials revealed that a masked man entered the centre and stole drugs worth lakhs. The centre is known as Opioid Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) centre at Government Rajindra Hospital and is being run by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).

The officials claimed that the unidentified accused had first broken the lock at around 4am and had stolen 6,000 tablets which are said to be alternatives drugs being given to the drug addicts as part of treatment.

The centre was set up in 2014 to improve the health status of Injectile Drug Users (IDUs) and prevent the spread of HIV AIDS. The OST centres are based on the Standard Operating Procedure for Oral Substitution Therapy with Buprenorphine made by NACO.

The police said that CCTV footage has been retrieved from the camera installed outside and inside the center. The police said that around four CCTV cameras, including three cameras inside the centre, were installed.

Model Town police station in-charge Kaur Singh, said, “The accused had covered his face with a cloth and a polythene bag. We will identify him soon as we have checked all the cameras. The case has been registered against an unidentified person and the probe was initiated.”

Dr Rajnish, head of the psychiatry the department, said that it seems the accused was a drug addict who wanted to get these medicines and meet his urge for the drugs. “The supply chain of drugs have been broken and the addicts are not getting drugs from anywhere and this might have forced him to take this step.”