CHANDIGARH: With the decisive war against drugs waged on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann to root out the menace of drugs from state has completed two and half years, Punjab Police have arrested as many as 39840 drug smugglers including 5856 big fish since March 16, 2022. The Police have registered a total of 29152 first information reports (FIRs) of which 3581 are related to commercial quantity.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, who was addressing a Press Conference here on Monday, said that the Police teams have recovered 2546-Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state.
Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the Police teams have also recovered 2457-Kg opium, 1156 quintals of poppy husk, and 4.29 crore tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state, he said, while adding that the Police have also recovered Rs 30.83 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in the last two and a half year.
The IGP said that Punjab Police have also forfeited properties of 602 big smugglers worth Rs 324.28 crores in these two and a half years, while, as many as 192 cases to freeze properties worth 103.50 crores are pending with the competent authority for approval.
Pertinently, the state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy— Enforcement, Prevention and Rehabilitation— to eradicate drugs from the state. As part of the strategy, the Punjab Police has been promoting and creating awareness about section 64-A of the NDPS act, which provides an opportunity to a drug consumer—caught with a few grams of heroin or narcotic powder— for rehabilitation.
“As many as 295 drug consumers, caught with little quantity of drugs, in 245 cases availed provision of section 64-A of the NDPS by pledging to undergo the rehabilitation treatment, ” said the IGP.
He said that as part of the ongoing special drive to arrest Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases, Punjab Police have arrested 2378 POs/Absconders since March 16, 2022.
Recounting the achievements of Punjab Police against the gangsters front, the IGP said that the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) along with field units has succeeded in busting 508 gangsters/criminals modules after arresting 1420 gangsters/criminals and neutralising 12 gangsters/criminals and recovered 1337 weapons, 294 vehicles used in criminal activities, 56.7 KGs heroin and Rs 4.05 crores drug money.
Divulging details on action against terrorists, the IGP said that the Internal Security has busted 45 terror modules with the arrest of 272 terrorists after recovering 34 Rifles, 303 Revolvers/Pistols, 14 Hand Grenades and 290 Drones.
He said that in action against use of mobile phones inside jails, the Punjab Police has also blacklisted as many as 1663 IMEI numbers and blocked 475 mobile numbers. Apart from this, at least 6500 social media accounts glorifying gangsters and promoting violence have been blocked.
Meanwhile, giving an update of this year, the IGP said that since January 1, 2024, the police have arrested 8789 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 6439 first information reports (FIRs), including 825 commercial, and recovered 628-Kg Heroin, 796-Kg opium, 324 quintals of poppy husk, and 2.83 crores tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 10.32 crores drug money from their possession.