After two targeted killings in recent days, Punjab Police on Tuesday carried out a special cordon-and-search operation (CASO) to check the movement of anti-social elements and drug smugglers in all the 28 police districts of the state to instill confidence among people and increase police presence across the state,
Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav led the operations in different areas of Ludhiana, along with Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs, Gurpreet Kaur and Ludhiana Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu. During the search operations, four suspected persons were rounded-up while 12 grams heroin was recovered from Ludhiana.
The state-level operation, conducted from 11 am to 4 pm simultaneously across the state, was launched after identifying the drug and crime hotspots through data analysis by the district police units. ADGP or IGP rank officers from the Punjab Police Headquarters were deputed in each of the 28 Police districts to personally supervise the operation.
“The idea behind conducting CASO at mass-scale level is to boost public confidence and increase the presence of the cops to infuse fear among the anti-social elements,” said the DGP, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the operation in Ludhiana.
Yadav said that the operation was conducted after the identification of drug and crime hotspots through data analysis by district police forces. “Proper frisking of suspected persons and complete search of houses was done by the Police force under the supervision of senior officers. Sniffer dogs and drones were also deputed in these hotspots to ensure strict vigil,” he added.
The state police chief said that Punjab Police will uphold glorious tradition by serving the people and the force will not rest till the elimination of drugs and gangsterism completely from the State.
Responding to a query regarding new directions for the issuance of arms licenses, the DGP said that no new arms license would be issued till the physical verification of previous arms licenses in the next three months. The public display of weapons, even on social media, would be dealt with an iron hand, and action will be taken against violators, he said.
The DGP pointed out that the cyber wing of the Punjab police will keep watch on social networking sites to check the violations. “FIR will be registered immediately in case anyone is found indulging in hate speech against any community,” he said, adding that no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands.
98 apprehended; 1 kg heroin, Rs 10.91l drug money, recovered
The special cordon and search operation (CASO) carried out by the Punjab Police yielded successful results after the Police teams apprehended as many as 98 persons, including three proclaimed offenders (POs), involved in different crimes. A total of 97 first information reports (FIRs) have been registered in this regard.
Sharing the outcome of CASO, Yadav said that over 12000 police personnel under the supervision of ADGPs and IGPs and concerned CPs and SSPs carried out CASO across the State. He said that the police teams have recovered one kg heroin, Rs 10.91 lakh drug money, 158 liters illicit liquor, 660 kg lahan, 103 kg poppy husk, 19 kg bhang, and 10,460 intoxicant tablets. Apart from this, the police also recovered two pistols, one rifle, and one gun along with ammunition and 30 motorcycles during the five-hour-long operation.
DGP Yadav had joined ADGP Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs Gurpreet Kaur and CP Ludhiana Mandeep Singh Sidhu in Ludhiana to supervise the operation in different areas of the Ludhiana Commissionerate. Similarly, ADGP Ishwar Singh supervised CASO in SAS Nagar, ADGP Jitendra Kumar Jain in Fazilka, ADGP Shashi Prabha Dwivedi in Patiala, ADGP Naresh Arora in Fatehgarh Sahib, ADGP Ram Singh in Jalandhar Commissionerate, ADGP AS Rai in Amritsar Commissionerate, ADGP Anita Punj in Jalandhar Rural, ADGP G Nageswara Rao in Bathinda, ADGP Vibhu Raj in Malerkotla and ADGP LK Yadav in Ludhiana Rural.