Police launch Operation 'White Spider' to check drugs menace in Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: The City police on Monday launched operation ‘White Spider’ to check the drug menace in the State Capital.
As part of the operation, the police will target the entire chain including the suppliers, dealers and peddlers engaged in drugs trade.
All police stations have been sensitised. Members of the Special Squad along with the Quick Action Team will carry out the operation.
The Commissionerate Police has also launched a dedicated WhatsApp number - 7077798111 and sought public cooperation to check the drug menace. People have been urged to share if they get any information about the trade.
Police said their main target are the drug peddlers who are supplying huge quantities of brown sugar to various districts via Bhubaneswar and Cuttack after
procuring the same from Jaleswar and Balasore.
"One of our top priorities is to check the drug menace because anti-socials are using Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as transit routes to supply the contraband to
suppliers in other districts like Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, and others," said Police Commissioner SK Priyadarsi.
The police have seized over 2.1 kg brown sugar and more than Rs 35 lakh cash proceeds from drug dealers/peddlers in the Capital in last five months.
Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash said they are simultaneously focusing on drug peddling, slums and street crimes as they are inter-related to each other.
“As part of our Basti Ku Chala programme, 11 slums have been identified in the city. A nodal officer and an assistant nodal officer have been appointed for
each of this slum who will collect information about miscreants and maintain coordination with the residents there,” said Dash.
Foot patrolling has also started in these slums to maintain a close vigil on the anti-social elements.
In a related development, Commissionerate police has launched a mobile application ‘Sarai’ to receive information from hotels about their guests.
Hotels and lodges earlier used to share such information through hard copies or e-mails to their nearest police stations.
Many hotels and lodges were also not sharing information with the police. They can now share their guest details via Sarai mobile application, said Dash.
Over 100 hotels in the city have already registered themselves on the application.