They held a coordination meeting and chalked out a foolproof strategy to destroy the supply chain of drugs and drone-aided cross-border narcoterrorism.
Punjab Police and BSF officials held a joint coordination meeting. (Supplied)
Following the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Independence Day declaration of making the state drug-free by next year, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police have collaborated to get into action.
They held a coordination meeting, headed by Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla, and chalked out a foolproof strategy to destroy the supply chain of drugs and drone-aided cross-border narcoterrorism.
Calling for total synergy and teamwork between the BSF and Punjab Police, Shukla in a joint coordination-cum-review meeting with senior officials of the BSF, Punjab Police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and other central agencies said that both forces should work as one team and activate good old human intelligence by gathering and sharing real-time information to further strengthen the security at the state border to prevent cross-border smuggling.
Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla in a meeting with BSF officials. (Supplied)
Shukla directed Commissioners of Police (CP) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) to identify and forfeit properties of big narco smugglers caught with commercial quantity of drugs. He also ordered DIG Border range and DIG Ferozepur range to direct SSPs and other gazetted rank officers of the border districts to stay overnight in these villages at least once or twice in a month as part of the confidence-building measure.
“The state government had already sanctioned ₹20 crore for the installation of CCTV cameras in the border areas to further strengthen the second line of defence and keep vigil against drug smugglers and anti-social elements,” said Shukla. Additionally, ₹10 crore is being spent to strengthen the police infrastructure, including police stations, he said, while adding that additional police force and vehicles are also being provided to the Border Police.
The state police has also asked all investigating officers to trace the source of the drugs during recoveries, irrespective of the amount. In addition to tackling cross-border narcoterrorism, we are working on demolishing the peddler network in the state, the police said.
Punjab Police and BSF held a joint coordination-cum-review meeting. (Supplied)
Notably, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav has already announced a reward of ₹1 lakh to those who provide information on drone movement leading to the recovery of weapons/narcotics. A similar reward and citation was also announced recently by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
It may be noted that the Punjab Police have recovered 1,259.66 kg of heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon-and-search operations in drug-affected areas over the last 13 months. Additionally, they have registered 13,458 FIRs, of which 1,630 are related to commercial quantity with the arrest of 18,079 drug smugglers — including 2,643 notorious ones — towards Punjab’s ambitious zero-drug smuggling plan.
The police have also recovered ₹13.29 crore of drug money from the possession of arrested drug smugglers, apart from the recovery of 837.42 kg of opium, 951.37 kg of ganja, 404.45 quintals of poppy husk, and 89 lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of pharma opioids from across the state.
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