ONE YEAR OF DECISIVE WAR AGAINST DRUGS: PUNJAB POLICE ARREST 2351 BIG FISH AMONG 16360 SMUGGLERS; 1221-KG HEROIN RECOVERED

Chandigarh, July 17:

          With the decisive war against drugs waged on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to root out the menace of drugs has completed a year, Punjab Police have arrested as many as 16360 drug smugglers including 2351 big fish since July 5, 2022. The Police have registered a total of 12218 first information reports (FIRs) of which 1458 are related to commercial quantity.

          Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, who was addressing a Press Conference here on Monday, said that the Police teams have recovered 1073.44-Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. Additionally, 147.5-Kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 1220.94 kg in just one year, he said.

          Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said that Police have also recovered 797.14-Kg opium, 902.13-Kg Ganja, 375.47 quintals of poppy husk, and 65.49 lakhs tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 12.33 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in the span of the last one year.

          He said that Punjab Police have also forfeited properties of 66 big smugglers worth Rs 26.72 crores during the last year. The district Barnala remains on top by freezing 13 properties worth Rs 2.34 crores, followed by, 9 properties worth Rs 1.72 crores forfeited by district Fazilka and 6 properties worth Rs 1.13 by district Malerkotla, he said.

              Giving a weekly update, the IGP said that in the last one week, the police have arrested 297 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 205 first information reports (FIRs), including 32 commercial, and recovered 5.52-Kg Heroin, 11.34-Kg opium, 4.02-Kg Ganja, 5.22 quintals of poppy husk, and 56107 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 4.33 lakh drug money from their possession.

          He said that with 10 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested in the last one week, the total number of arrests reached 964 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.

          Apart from this, IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill said that the law and order situation in the state has also witnessed a significant improvement since the CM Bhagwant Mann-led Government came into power. 

          The official data from July 5, 2022, to July 16, 2023, reveals that the Punjab Police have busted 18 terror modules with the arrest of 143 terrorist/radicals after recovering 31 Rifles, 209 Revolvers/Pistols, 5 Tiffin Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), 6.78Kg RDX and other explosives, 10 Hand Grenades, one Sleeve of disposed Rocket Launcher, 51 Drones, and one loaded Rocket Propelled Grenade.

          Similarly, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), since its formation on April 6, 2022, has succeeded in busting 208 gangster/criminal modules after arresting 688 gangsters/criminals and neutralising five, after recovering 667 weapons, 157 vehicles used in criminal activities. Pertinently, immediately after coming to power, the CM Bhagwant Mann-led state government formed a special Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) headed by ADGP Promod Ban to wipe out gangsters from the state. 

          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 meagre amount of drugs.