CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police is set to launch a comprehensive district-level mapping initiative to ascertain the prevalence of specific drugs in each district in order to implement targeted action plans to root out this menace from the state.
After chairing a high-level meeting with top officials, including Special DGPs, Additional Director Generals of Police (ADGPs) and Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs), Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said that the decisive campaign against drugs has forced drug couriers and smugglers to retreat, with many refusing to pick up consignments dropped by Pakistan-based operatives, which led to a sharp decline in supply of heroin from across the border.
"The impact of ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ is undeniable. Our intelligence confirms that drug couriers are now hesitant to collect heroin packets dropped by Pakistani smugglers, signaling a major disruption in the supply chain,” he said. Yadav said that under this campaign, Punjab Police has been targeting actual street drug peddler and smugglers, while drug victims are not being harassed unnecessarily and are being admitted to de-addiction centres for treatment. These special operations against drugs are being conducted under the supervision of Senior Police Officers of the rank of Special DGPs, ADGPs, IGPs and DIGs, who have been allotted different districts, he added.
He said that to make this drive more effective, Punjab Police is launching a comprehensive district-level mapping initiative to ascertain the prevalence of specific drugs in each district and accordingly implement targeted action plans to root out this menace from the state.
He said that all the officers in the field -- from Commissioners of Police and Senior Superintendents of Police (CPs and SSPs) to Station House Officers (SHOs) -- are being given quantifiable targets. Their effectiveness will be assessed based on the targets and parameters they were given to ensure results-driven approach to the anti-drug campaign, he added.
Sharing outcomes of the 17 days of ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, Yadav said the Punjab Police arrested 2,575 drug smugglers after registering of 1,651 first information reports (FIRs) across the state since March 1. During this drive, police teams have recovered 95 kg heroin, 52 kg opium, 1129 kg poppy husk, 13.79 kg ganja, 7.25 lakh intoxicant tablets, pills, injections, 1 kg ICE, 1.37 kg cocaine and Rs 64 lakh drug money from the possession of arrested drug smugglers, he said.
He said that the newly launched Safe Punjab Anti-Drug Helpline ‘9779100200’, which allows citizens to report drug traffickers anonymously, has gained popularity among the general public, with tips on the helpline having increased in recent days.