Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], August 16 : Continuing the war against drugs "Yudh Nashian Virudh" waged by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to eradicate drug menace from state consecutively for the 168th day, Punjab Police conducted raids at 301 locations on Saturday leading to the arrest of 38 drug smugglers after registration of 28 first information reports (FIRs) across the state.
With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached 25,909 in 168 days, said an official release.
The raids have resulted in the recovery of 620 grams of heroin and 1612 intoxicant tablets/capsules from the possession of arrested drug smugglers.
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.
Notably, CM Bhagwant Mann has asked the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police to make Punjab a drug-free state. 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.
Divulging details, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla informed that over 100 Police teams, comprising over 900 police personnel, under the supervision of 70 gazetted officers, have conducted raids across the state. Police teams have also checked as many as 316 suspicious persons during the day-long operation, he added.
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 33 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment today.
Earlier on Thursday, in a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive against organised crime launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) arrested two most-wanted operatives of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from Patiala-Ambala Highway near village Shambhu and recovered an Austrian-made 9mm Glock pistol along with six live cartridges from their possession.