As the ongoing anti-drug campaign, Punjab Police on Thursday achieved major success after at least 67 villages and 20 wards of Sangrur district have passed a resolution to oppose and socially boycott drug sellers and make their villages drug-free.

This achievement came amidst the series of Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) focused on drug trafficking, anti-social elements, and criminals being conducted by the police to make the state a drug-free and crime-free state.

On Wednesday, residents of two notorious areas in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, including Midda village and Mohalla Chhajghar of Malout, pledged to stay away from drugs.

On day four, the CASO was conducted in two districts of Patiala range — Sangrur and Barnala — on the directions of Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

The entire operation was conducted under the overall supervision of Inspector General of Police, Patiala range, Mukhwinder Singh Chhina and SSPs were directed to meticulously plan this operation and deploy maximum police force.

While congratulating the Sangrur Police team for achieving this milestone, Special DGP, Law and Order, Arpit Shukla exhorted the public to come forward to eradicate the menace of drugs from the state to transform it into the ‘Rangla Punjab’.

He said the police have not been leaving any stone unturned to nab the drug smugglers to break the drug supply, but the public support is a must to cut the demand.

Divulging more details, the Special DGP said the police teams have arrested 11 anti-social elements after registering eight FIRs during the operation.

Apart from this, the police teams have also rounded up 60 suspicious persons for questioning, he added.

The Special DGP said the strong force of 1,200 plus police personnel under the supervision of SSP Sangrur Surendra Lamba and SSP Barnala Sandeep Kumar Malik carried out CASO in drug hotspots identified in their respective districts.

Meanwhile, IGP Chhina has specially invited 10 such panchayats for a meeting to appreciate their efforts in the fight against drugs. He urged more people to join hands with the Punjab Police to wipe out drugs from the state.