CHANDIGARH, June 29: With the war against drugs “Yudh Nashian Virudh” waged on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate drug menace from state completed 120 days, Punjab Police on Sunday arrested 114 drug smugglers and recovered 4.1 kg heroin and Rs 9.6 lakh drug money from their possession. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached to 19,735 in just 120 days.

POLICE TEAMS IN SIX DISTRICTS ALSO CHECK 332 PHARMACEUTICAL SHOPS

Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav directed police to conduct the operation simultaneously in all 28 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 180 Police teams, comprising over 1100 police personnel, under the supervision of 85 gazetted officers have conducted raids at as many as 367 locations across the state leading to the registration of 77 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. Police teams have also checked as many as 399 suspicious persons during the day-long operation, he added.

smugglers : state government enforced a three-pronged strategy

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 54 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment today. Meanwhile, Police teams have also conducted checking at as many as 332 pharmaceutical shops in six districts including Commissionerate Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Jalandhar Rural, Kapurthala and Rupnagar 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