To make Punjab a drug-free state by the next Independence Day, the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday ordered all the field officers to launch a massive crackdown to break the supply chain of drugs emphasizing that the three-pronged strategy — enforcement by Police, de-addiction, and rehabilitation — will be enforced to eradicate the menace from the State.
Yadav was chairing a state-level review meeting via video conference with all the Inspector Generals (IGs) and Deputy IGs (DIGs) of all the eight ranges, 28 Commissioners of police and the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs), 117 Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), and more than 410 Station House Officers (SHOs) in the State to chalk out cutting-edge strategy against drugs. He was accompanied by Special DGP STF Kuldeep Singh, Special DGP Intelligence-cum-Chief Director Vigilance Bureau Punjab Varinder Kumar, and Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla.
The development came a day after the DGP chaired a high-level meeting on drug trafficking at Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur. He said that the Punjab Police has been working on a multi-pronged strategy against drug trafficking to disrupt supply chain, reach out to the public in a massive way by holding meetings, rallies, seminars and work with other departments to reduce demand and provide treatment to victims.
Acknowledging the fact that a lot of good work has been done against drugs by the Punjab Police in August month by seizing around 200 kgs of heroin, he stressed on the need to further intensify the vigil against drug smugglers.
He also ordered all the field officers to thoroughly investigate backward and forward linkages of all the FIRs registered under the NDPS Act and effectively forfeit the properties of big fish. He also asked all the units to identify drug hotspots in their jurisdictions and make their own strategy to make their jurisdictions drug-free.
Stressing on the need to involve the public in the fight against drugs, the DGP asked all the SHOs to interact with the common people and share their contact numbers with them so that they can feel free to share any information with the Police.
Meanwhile, all the CPs and SSPs have also been asked to rope in sports, health and education departments and hold awareness programmes including cycle rallies, painting competitions, nukkad nataks, etc to sensitize people about the effects of the drugs.