Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh wants to catch the big fish in the drug pond.
Making it clear that he was after the “bigwigs” in drug trade, Capt Amarinder on Wednesday made it clear that the small users would not be harassed as was the case during the Badal Government when they launched a crackdown on drugs.
“I will go after the big fish and no children will be harassed or picked up by the Special Task Force (STF),” said Capt Amarinder, who had vowed to eliminate drugs from Punjab within four weeks of coming to power.
ADGP Harpreet Sandhu would take over the STF on Friday and it would become fully functional as he has been accorded full freedom to constitute his own team and get cracking on the war against drugs in the State.
“STF will go full steam on its mission to rid the state of drugs immediately after Sidhu joins on Friday…As STF chief, Sidhu would be the final authority to eliminate the scourge of drugs from the state, which has played havoc with the lives of thousands of our innocent youth,” he said.
Capt Amarinder pointed that he has categorically asked Sidhu that he want results.
On Friday, the Government has appointed IPS officers Pramod Ban, Balkar Singh Sidhu, and B Chandrasekhar as IGP (STF), besides PPS officer Snehdeep Sharma as AIG (STF).
Capt Amarinder said the STF will go into all aspects of the problem, with pharmacies and chemist shops also under the scanner for selling illicit drugs.
Reiterating that his government would follow a humanitarian approach towards drug addicts, he said that the children found on drugs would be handed over to drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres to help them get over the addiction.
He said social counsellors would be involved to motivate the parents of these children to admit them for treatment in these centres, since most of them were wary of doing so on account of the social stigma attached to drugs.
The Chief Minister made it clear that there would be no unnecessary harassment as part of the anti-drugs campaign, with only the real culprits
of the drugs racket to be brought to book.
He asserted that nobody found guilty of involvement in drugs smuggling or trading would be spared, howsoever influential or high up they may be. The anti-drugs campaign approach would be a comprehensive one, combining crackdown with rehabilitation, he added.
VB PROBE IN FOODGRAIN SCAM
Capt Amarinder promised a thorough probe by the State Vigilance Bureau into Rs 31,000 crore foodgrain scam, which is been recently converted into term loan.
His Government would get to the root of the scam and ensure stringent punishment for the guilty, he added.
SACRIlEGE CASES TO BE INVESTIGATED
The Chief Minister said all cases of sacrilege, involving that of Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, in the State were being investigated and strengthened. “The investigations are going on,” he said.