Drug menace: Mann directs senior officers to work in tandem with STF to thwart 'big sharks'

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday directed senior police officers to act in tandem with the Special Task Force to crack the whip on the "big sharks running the drug mafia". He also instructed the director general of police to step up the process of confiscating property belonging to those involved in drug trafficking.
In a word of caution to senior officers, Mann said police commissioners and the senior superintendents of police (SSPs) will solely be held accountable if any cases related to trafficking of drugs in their respective jurisdictions came to his attention.
He also warned of strict action against the officials in case the accused in drug trafficking cases managed to obtain a default bail because of the department's failure to submit challans to the court in the stipulated period.
During the high-level meeting with deputy commissioners and SSPs, Mann also underlined the need to evolve an effective mechanism to punish police officials that give patronage to drug peddlers.
To make de-addiction treatment more accessible for drug addicts, Opioid Assisted Treatment clinics are being increased from the existing 208 to 500 on a priority basis, he said.
This initiative has been undertaken to setup clinics to cover the population within a radius of five-six kilometres, according to an official statement.
The chief minister stressed on organising sports meets and youth festivals to channelise their energies constructively and keep them away from drugs.
Drug-free villages should be declared in every district to instill confidence of the people, Mann added.
Meanwhile, the chief minister asked the deputy commissioners to launch a vigorous awareness and motivation campaign to promote the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technology in order to save fast-depleting ground water table besides encouraging farmers towards crop diversification.
Mann said a dedicated office will soon be set up in every assembly constituency as an extension of the Chief Minister's Office to expedite public works that require immediate inter-departmental intervention.
The programme 'Tuhadi Sarkar Tuhade Dwar' will help people in getting their issues resolved in a time-bound manner, he said.