Women, it seems, are being roped in by the drug peddlers in Punjab, to smuggle contraband. To make the matters worse, they are now depending more on public transportation to ferry drugs, making it tougher for the cops to act, admitted the Punjab Police on Monday.
At the same time, the police has also made it clear that the drug addicts and those arrested with a small quantity of drugs — “committing” for their rehabilitation or treatment — would get “automatically discharged” from the charges under special provisions made in section 64-A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The police has appealed to the drug addicts, especially youngsters, to come forward and avail of this opportunity.
Punjab Police, while working on a multi-pronged strategy to enforce the rule of law to check drug trafficking while rehabilitating those involved, is facing new challenges —increasing use of women in supplying drugs and using public transportation, especially buses, to smuggle drugs.
“Drug suppliers have started roping in women as an alibi to safely carry out drug trafficking. It has also come to notice that the drug peddlers, these days, prefer public transport systems for smuggling which require more human intelligence to track them,” said the state Inspector General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill.
Talking about the new trends in drug smuggling, Dr Gill said that as the Punjab police’s campaign against drugs is providing dividends, the drug smugglers and suppliers are coming up with new ways and trends.
Earlier, Dr Gill had informed that the drug smugglers are also opting to smuggle drugs “on foot” to prevent arrest.
Interestingly, the smugglers are also opting to conceal the drugs in ponds and fields instead of their houses to avoid narcotics from being seized during raids. Also, the drug smugglers prefer to sell drugs in small quantities to ensure that even if they are caught, their case should not be considered as commercial as it is a non-bailable offence.
Talking about a significant issue, Dr Gill maintained that in case anyone is caught consuming drugs or possessing small quantities, they have an option to seek legal amnesty under Section 64 of the NDPS Act. “A case, under section 27 of NDPS, is registered against the addicts or those possessing small quantities of drugs. But, they have an option under section 64 of the Act under which he or she can be discharged from the charges in case he or she admits the crime and fulfills the commitment made before the Court that he or she wanted to rehabilitate,” said Dr Gill.
“They just have to admit the crime and make a commitment through an affidavit in the court that he would opt for rehabilitation. If he fulfills his commitment and undergoes complete treatment in de-addiction centres, that person will be fully discharged from the charges and face no punishment,” he clarified.
Dr Gill lamented that people have a misconception that in case they confess, they will have to face the law and will be punished. “I want the people to avail this option at the maximum as our main objective is to ensure that there is no supply of drugs in the state, while also ensuring that the demand will also be reduced,” he said.
Further clarifying, Dr Gill said that the “small quantity” varies from substance to substance. “Like, in the case of heroin, less than five grams is considered a small quantity. Less than 25 grams of opium or less than one kg poppy husk is also considered a small quantity,” he added.
As per the Act, possession of drugs in itself is an offence; and the factor determining the quantum of punishment is not purported personal or commercial use, but the drug’s quantity found with a person. Consumption of drugs, too, is an offence under Section 27 of the NDPS Act and is punishable with imprisonment for up to a year in case of some drugs and six months for some others. But addicts volunteering for treatment get immunity under section 64-A of the Act, he clarified.
“Besides tightening the noose around the drug smugglers or suppliers, Punjab police has also been doing all the possible efforts to keep youth away from drugs besides helping to rehabilitate those who have already fallen prey to this menace,” he added.
As a part of the same, all the CPs and SSPs have been conducting different activities including public meetings, visiting drug affected villages, conducting seminars, holding joint meetings with MLAs, Sarpanches and Councillors besides involving NGOs and Youth Clubs to work against drugs at their respective districts to sensitise the youth about the harmful and ill-effects of drugs.
“As part of the ongoing campaign against drugs, the Barnala Police has organised a four-day Basketball league under-17 (Boys) to motivate youth towards sports and maintain their physical and mental health. Similarly, Malerkotla Police has also launched a massive anti-drug program under the title of ‘Saanjhi Satth’ under which every SHO along with his team including one lady Police official visits one village every day in the evening time to meet villagers at any commonplace in the village, while, the worst affected or hotspot areas are being visited by the GOs to sensitize people about the ill-effects of drugs and motivating them to stay away from drugs,” he added.
The IGP said that apart from sensitising youth, the Police teams are also counselling and motivating victims of drug addiction to shun this menace and helping them to bring them back to the mainstream by sending them to OOAT Centres for treatment.
141 POs, ABSCONDERS ARRESTED IN PAST MONTH
As part of its special drive to arrest Proclaimed Offenders (POs) or absconders in NDPS Act cases, Punjab Police has successfully managed to arrest as many as 141 such POs or absconders over the last one month, said the IGP Headquarters.