The Maoist YCL has been torturing drug addicts as a way to wean them off drugs in a self-styled 'rehabilitation center' in Pharping. The General Secretary of the National Alliance of ex-Drug Users and one-time victim of YCL 'rehabilitation' Ekata Mahat recalls: "We were hung upside down, beaten with mallets and pulled to the ground and stamped on".
After the government removed the YCL from its main base in the Balaju Industrial Estate many assumed the torture would stop. But, they're now using the drug rehab center in Pharphing as a revenue source, where they have 70 addicts at a time whose fees are paid for by their families. The families are charged up to Rs 30,000 per addict. Eyewitnesses in Pharping say they hear wild screams from the YCL centre when the addicts are mercilessly beaten.