100 villages will be declared drug free in next 15 days: CP

Ludhiana: Police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill here on Tuesday said that Ludhiana police commissionerate has prepared a meticulous action plan in the ongoing war against drugs in Punjab. The action plan is aimed at enforcement on one hand and prevention as well as education on the other.
Of the 28 police stations in the commissionerate, eight police stations with areas vulnerable to drugs have been identified. These police stations and the areas concerned will be given special attention under this strategy. In addition to the sub-divisional DSP and SP rank officers, additional gazetted officers have been assigned specific area-based responsibility to fight the menace of drugs.
According to the commissioner, “The teams will work on technical as well as human intelligence in collaboration with the local stakeholders in these areas. The teams will work on two fronts — nabbing the drug peddlers and breaking the whole supply chain of drugs and involving the community and youth on a large scale. Seven villages and six localities have been declared drug free and 100 villages of the total 290 will be declared drug free in next 15 days. Ludhiana police commissionerate endeavours to declare 100% villages drug free.”
The commissioner also said that action would be taken against police officials found to be in collusion with drug peddlers. He further said that Ludhiana police commissionerate had achieved great success in its drive against drug and drug peddlers this year, resulting in the arrest of 248 drug peddlers in 178 cases and seizure of approximately 9 kg opium, two quintal of poppy husk, 300gm of charas, 74kg of ganja, 9.5kg of heroin, 368g of narcotic powder, 26,568 intoxicating tablets and few bottles of syrups.
Gill further said that the officers were regularly in touch with the IOs of these cases and were working on unearthing the whole network of drug peddlers. Weekly crime meetings are held with a specific focus on proper investigation of NDPS cases. The officers and police station-level staff are regularly updated on latest case laws. Judgement and procedures will be adopted in the investigation of NDPS-related cases to ensure higher conviction rates in addition to the focus on enforcement.