DAY 54 OF ‘YUDH NASHIAN VIRUDH’: 104 DRUG SMUGGLERS HELD WITH 3.4KG HEROIN, ₹8.3L DRUG MONEY

— PUNJAB POLICE COMMITTED TO MAKING PUNJAB A DRUG-FREE STATE AS PER DIRECTIONS OF CM BHAGWANT SINGH MANN

— POLICE TEAMS IN SIX DISTRICTS ALSO CHECK 389 PHARMACEUTICAL SHOPS

— OVER 150 POLICE TEAMS LED BY 80 SP/DSP RANK OFFICERS CHECKED 475 SUSPICIOUS PERSONS: SPL DGP ARPIT SHUKLA

CHANDIGARH, April 23:

          With the war against drugs “Yudh Nashian Virudh” waged on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate drug menace from state entered 54th day, Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested 104 drug smugglers and recovered 3.4 kg heroin, 1671 kg poppy husk and Rs 8.3 lakh drug money from their possession. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached to 7187 in just 54 days.

          The operation was conducted on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav simultaneously in all 28 Police districts of the state.

          Notably, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann has asked the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police to make Punjab drug free state. The Punjab government has also constituted a 5-member Cabinet Sub Committee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the war against drugs.

          Divulging details, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla informed that over 150 Police teams, comprising over 1200 police personnel, under the supervision of 80 gazetted officers have conducted raids at as many as 422 locations across the state leading to the registration of 63 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. Police teams have also checked as many as 475 suspicious persons during the day long operation, he added.

          The Special DGP said that with the state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy— Enforcement, Deaddiction and Prevention (EDP)— to eradicate drugs from the state, the Punjab Police as part of ‘De-addiction’ has convinced five persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment.

          Meanwhile, Police teams have also conducted checking at as many as 389 pharmaceutical shops in six districts including Commissionerate Amritsar, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar Rural and Tarn Taran to ensure that they are not selling intoxicant tablets or any other habit-forming drugs, and are adhering to the prescribed norms and regulations regarding the sale of medicines.

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