Punjab anti-drug drive: Nearly 15,500 smugglers held, 9,087 FIRs filed since March 1

Chandigarh, Jun 4 (PTI) In three months of launching its anti-drug drive 'Yudh Nashian Virudh', the Punjab Police have arrested 15,495 drug smugglers and registered 9,087 FIRs, according to an official.

A roadmap has been prepared to eliminate drugs from Punjab. To achieve this, a two-pronged strategy is being adopted to further dismantle the narcotics network by segregating big drug suppliers and peddlers from the drug users, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

Along with this, a balanced approach of zero tolerance has been adopted by taking stringent legal actions against traffickers and motivating users to undergo de-addiction treatment, he said.

"Our aim is to choke the supply chain by isolating and punishing the actual drug dealers while offering a compassionate path to recovery for drug users," said Yadav.

Sharing the outcome of the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' drive, the DGP said the police have registered 9,087 FIRs and arrested 15,495 drug smugglers since March 1.  Additionally, treatment for 5,786 addicts in de-addiction centres has been facilitated by the police and 6,483 others have been motivated to avail the services at Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment clinics.

Yadav also highlighted the humane aspect of their strategy, noting that 1,121 drug users, caught with small quantities, have been sent for rehabilitation under the provision of Section 64-A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act instead of being treated as criminals.

The DGP chaired a state-level meeting to review the performance of the districts in the ongoing anti-drug drive, law and order situation and internal security situation at the PAP Complex in Jalandhar.

Yadav was accompanied by Special DGP Internal Security RN Dhoke, Special DGP Anti-Narcotics Force (ANTF) Kuldeep Singh, Special DGP Arpit Shukla, ADGP ANTF Nilabh Kishore and IGP (Headquarters) Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill.

All Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs), Commissioners of Police (CPs), and Range IGs/DIGs in Punjab were also present at the meeting.

Police have also been shifting their focus from list-based to information-based enforcement by taking swift action on tips being received on the Safe Punjab Chatbot, the DGP said.

"Our major thrust is to further popularise the Safe Punjab Chatbot so that action can be taken at point-of-sale of drugs using information from the public," he said while exhorting people to report drug-related information confidentially at Safe Punjab Chatbot: 9779100200.

Sharing details of the recoveries made during the rive, the Punjab Police said, 607 kg of heroin, 249 kg opium, 14 tons of poppy husk, 9 kg charas, 263 kg ganja, 2.5 kg Ice (crystal meth), 1.6 kg cocaine, 26.35 lakh intoxicant pills and tablets and Rs 10.83 crore drug money have been seized.

Additionally, illegally acquired properties of 144 drug smugglers worth 74.27 crores have been frozen, DGP Yadav added.

He said the Punjab Police is also exploring the use of GPS anklets to track and monitor activities of big drug smugglers released on bail,  "We are examining this proposal from a legal point of view to track the movement and monitor activities of bailed-out big smugglers through GPS anklets with the approval of a competent court," the officer said.

The Punjab Police has also been developing an AI-powered hierarchical database to map arrested persons under the NDPS Act with backwards and forward linkages to be traced upto two levels in each arrest, DGP Yadav said. PTI CHS NB NB NB