ON DIRECTIONS OF CM BHAGWANT MANN, PUNJAB POLICE COMMITTED TO ROOT OUT
DRUG MENACE FROM THE STATE
• DRIVE TO ARREST POs/ABSCONDERS IN NDPS ACT CASES WITNESSES SIGNIFICANT SURGE AS
TOLL REACHES 648
Chandigarh, January 30:
Amid the ongoing decisive war against drugs launched on the directions of Chief Minister
Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police have arrested 257 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 198
first information reports (FIRs), including 19 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act across the state in the last week.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, while addressing his
weekly Press Conference here on Monday, said that the Police have also recovered 16.36-Kg
Heroin, 6.70-Kg opium, 1.94 quintal of poppy husk, and 78918 tablets/capsules/injections/vials
of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 11.53 Lakh drug money from their possession.
Prior to this week, Punjab Police had arrested 241 drug smugglers after recovering 5-Kg
Heroin, 4.90-Kg opium, 5.92 quintals of poppy husk, and 1.95 Lakh
tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids and Rs 7.89 Lakh drug money from their
possession.
He said that with 12 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested
in the last week, the total number of arrests reached 648 since the special drive to arrest
POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.
Pertinently, Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab Gaurav Yadav had given strict
instructions to all the CPs/SSPs to investigate backward and forward linkages minutely in each
and every case, especially related to drug recoveries, even if they recover a meager amount of
drugs.
Meanwhile, on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a
drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat
the menace of drugs from the border State. The DGP has also strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to
identify all hotspots where drugs are prevalent and all top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions.
He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug
smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.
