In yet another effort to root out the drug menace from the state, Punjab Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) and Gurdaspur Police have executed the orders of preventive detention of a top drug smuggler identified as Avtar Singh alias Tari of border village Shahur Kalan in Gurdaspur district for two years using special provisions under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Friday.

An official statement said that this is the first case of preventive detention in which orders have been issued by the competent authority under Section 3 (1) and Section 10 of PIT-NDPS Act. The Section 3 of the PIT-NDPS Act empowers the government to take such drug smugglers into preventive custody to prevent them from engaging in illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

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“This marks Punjab’s first successful use of the stringent provisions of the PIT-NDPS Act, which allows for preventive detention in narcotics-related cases,” informed DGP Gaurav Yadav in a post on his X handle.

The DGP said that accused Tari has been detained under PIT-NDPS Act for two years and sent to Central Jail Bathinda, showcasing a strong step in Punjab’s ongoing efforts to curb drug smuggling and make the state drug-free.

As per the information, accused Tari while residing in his border village, has been smuggling heroin from the International Border across the state and country which has led the youth of the state into drug addiction while causing great damage to the state through illegal trafficking of drugs.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the accused Tari has been involved in smuggling of 231kg of heroin and has been actively involved in drug business with Pak-based smugglers. The accused has been convicted and sentenced in two cases registered against him under NDPS Act, he added.