Punjab's anti-drug campaign: Over 30,500 smugglers held in 205 days

Chandigarh, Sep 23 (PTI) More than 30,500 drug smugglers have been arrested across Punjab over the last 205 days as part of the state government's ongoing anti-narcotics campaign, officials said on Tuesday.

The 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' or war against drugs campaign, launched to eradicate the menace of drugs from Punjab, completed 205 days on Monday.

The Punjab Police on Monday conducted raids at 395 locations, leading to the arrest of 81 drug smugglers after registration of 59 first information reports (FIRs) across the state.

With this, the number of drug smugglers arrested so far has reached 30,540 in 205 days, they said. More than 150 police teams, comprising over 1,100 police personnel, under the supervision of 74 gazetted officers, conducted these raids across the state on Monday.

The raids resulted in the recovery of 922 grams of heroin, 4 kg of poppy husk, 336 intoxicant tablets/capsules and some drug money from the possession of the arrested smugglers.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police to make Punjab a drug-free state.

The Punjab government has also constituted a five-member Cabinet sub-committee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the campaign against drugs.

The state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy -- Enforcement, De-addiction and Prevention (EDP) -- to eradicate drugs from the state. PTI SUN RHL