State Crackdown: 300 Drug Peddlers Arrested, Large Quantities of Narcotics and Arms Seized. The state government of Punjab has declared a war against drugs, issuing an order for statewide raids to annihilate drug networks. The Bhagwant Mann-led administration has intensified its fight, setting a three-month time frame for eradication of drugs from the state. In accordance with this operation, Punjab Police have conducted 750 raids across the state with around 12,000 staff involved in the operation.
In a sort of breakthrough, 300 peddlers were picked up by Punjab Police in the crackdown. Law officials seized 8 kg heroin, 1 kg opium, and 3.5 kg cannabis, along with 19 kg poppy husk. Apart from that, the traffickers apprehended by the law enforcement authorities brought ₹8 lakh in cash, five pistols, over 16,000 intoxicating tablets, and nearly 100 injections of drugs.
The government strategy is not just consisting of raiding the peddlers but also demolishing their dens in some pockets. The cabinet sub-committee on the drug menace, which was holding its first meeting on Saturday, is spearheading the campaign. Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav attended the meeting.
Presenting the plan of action against drug trafficking at a media address following the meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema revealed that the districts in the state have been allotted to the four cabinet ministers on the committee—himself, Aman Arora, Tarunpreet Singh Sound, and Laljeet Singh Bhullar—to further tighten the noose on drug traffickers. The fifth member of the committee, Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, will take care of drug de-addiction activities in the state.
Cheema also clarified that he will continue visiting the Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Ropar, Tarntaran, and Hoshiarpur districts in order to greet civil and police administration officers in such a manner that ground observation of the Yudh Nashia Virudh campaign continues to be sustained. Similarly, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora will monitor Ludhiana, Patiala, Kapurthala, Mohali, Amritsar, and Jalandhar. Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sound will oversee Sangrur, Barnala, Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Moga, and Malerkotla, while Cabinet Minister Laljeet Singh Bhullar will oversee Faridkot, Muktsar, Fazilka, Mansa, and Ferozepur. The Finance Minister appealed to the drug addict families to get their addicted members admitted in the de-addiction centers.
He also added that this war against drugs is an important one to break the supply chain, which would result in health issues for the addicts. He also underlined the clear directions from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal to provide a finishing blow to drug peddling in the state and make the youth’s future bright. For tracking the crackdown, cabinet ministers have been assigned different districts. Health Minister Balbir Singh will be at the forefront of working for drug de-addiction and rehabilitation. Arora criticized previous governments for the drug problem in the state and appealed to all political parties to become part of the anti-drug campaign and not politicize it. He assured that drug addicts would not be treated like criminals but would be given medical treatment.
The Punjab Police has formed a special committee, led by Cheema, to monitor coordination between health and police departments to tackle the drug problem.
