Ahead of Assembly polls in the state on 21 October, Haryana Police has arrested 483 persons by registering 386 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) during a month-long special anti-narcotic drive across the state.

Over 1204 kilogram (kg) narcotics worth crores of rupees were also seized during this period. While stating on Monday, Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Yadava said that a special drive was launched between 20 August and 20 September ahead of the announcement of Assembly polls, to bust the network of supplying drugs and tightening the noose on those involved in the peddling them in the state. During this period, all the Commissioners of Police and district Superintendent of Police were directed to completely crush the menace of drug peddling and its distribution network in their respective areas.

As part of the crackdown, the DGP said that 559 kg 719 gram ganja,  over 1 kg 826 gram heroin, 630 kg 618 gram poppy husk, 5 kg 648 gram opium, 3 kg 531 gram charas, over 2 kg 710 gram smack and 458 gram 750 miligram sulfa have been seized from the possession of arrested accused. In addition, police teams have also seized prohibited medicines including 1,43,483 tablets, 196 bottles of syrup, 15,469 capsules and 827 injections.

Divulging the details about the seizure, additional director general of police, (law and order) Navdeep Singh Virk said that maximum numbers of 129 cases were registered in district Sirsa where 178 accused were arrested under NDPS Act during the same period.

Similarly, 60 cases were registered in Fatehabad with the arrest of 85 accused, 23 cases each were registered in Ambala and Panipat, 20 in Gurugram, 18 in Rohtak, 16 in Kurukshetra, 13 in Karnal and 10 in Yamunanagar by recovering huge consignment of drugs including heroin, poppy husk, ganja and opium. He said that during the special drive, regular raids were conducted in all districts on a daily basis. Apart from taking stern action against drug peddlers, Police has also made aware the general public about the ill-effects of drug addiction, Virk added.

He said the police department has made elaborate security arrangements to implement a multi-pronged pre-poll strategy to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling in the state.