Punjab Police arrest 547 drug smugglers in five days since launching 'Yudh Nashian Virudh'

Chandigarh, March 5: With the war against drugs "Yudh Nashian Virudh" announced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate drug menace from state entered fifth day, Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested 75 drug smugglers and recovered 27.7 kg heroin and Rs 3.06 lakh drug money from their possession. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached 547 in just five days, said the police.

The operation was conducted on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav simultaneously in all 28 Police districts of the state. Apart from recovering heroin and drug money, police teams have also recovered 400 grams of opium and 2060 intoxicant tablets/pills/injections from their possession.

Divulging details, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla informed that over 200 Police teams, comprising over 1,300 police personnel, under the supervision of 80 gazetted officers, have conducted raids at as many as 356 locations across the state, leading to the registration of 48 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. Police teams have also checked as many as 416 suspicious persons during the day-long operation, he added.

CM Bhagwant Singh Mann has asked the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police to make Punjab drug free state in coming three months. The Punjab government has also constituted a 5-member Cabinet Sub Committee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the war against drugs.

The Special DGP said that with the state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy-- Enforcement, Deaddiction and Prevention (EDP)-- to eradicate drugs from the state, the Punjab Police as part of 'De-addiction' has convinced six persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment, while, organised 165 awareness events across the state on Wednesday as part of Prevention.