Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
The drug trail affecting Punjab has now found link to China as the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said there are clues about the involvement of some big fish in the drug trade links without disclosing their names.
While speaking to reporters at the Punjab Assembly during the ongoing budget session outside the House, the CM said the Special Task Force (STF) was in continuous touch with the police and administration in China and got a success as a major kingpin behind the drug racket has been traced.
“Now, identity of the accused has been confirmed by the police in China on the basis of information provided by STF. The accused will be brought out to the country soon,” said CM. Earlier, in the House the CM informed that the state government has decided to restructure the STF on drugs as an independent and autonomous vertical in the state police department.
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Amarinder Singh was replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. The CM said that the new body will be provided with dedicated personnel and resources.
The move was aimed at further strengthening the STF, which had already achieved major successes in battling against the drugs menace, said the CM, reiterating his government’s zero tolerance to drugs and lambasting Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira for trying to garner cheap publicity on the issue.
The CM informed the House that between 16 March, 2017 and 13 March, 2018, the STF had registered 13,892 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, with as many as 15,835 persons arrested and Rs 1,86,49,053 has been recovered.
In terms of seizures, the CM said 303.18 kilogram of Heroin, 13.49 kg of Smack, 96.13 kg of Charas, 956.33 kg of Opium, 44,312 kg of Poppy Husk and 4.03 kg of Methamphetamine (ice) had been recovered in the same period.
The CM pointed out that a new legislation on Confiscation of Property of Drug Peddlers has already been passed and sent to the Union government for Presidential assent.
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