Continuing its anti-drug campaign, “Yudh Nashian De Virudh”, launched by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate the drug menace from the state, the Punjab Police conducted raids at 347 locations on Tuesday.
This marked the 150th consecutive day of the ongoing campaign and led to the arrest of 72 drug smugglers following the registration of 53 First Information Reports (FIRs) across the state. With these arrests, the total number of drug smugglers apprehended during the campaign has reached 23,822.
The raids also resulted in the recovery of 3.4 kg of heroin from the possession of the arrested individuals. The state-wide operation was carried out on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, simultaneously in all 28 police districts.
Notably, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has directed the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners, and Senior Superintendents of Police to work towards making Punjab a drug-free state. To ensure effective monitoring of the campaign, the Punjab government has constituted a five-member Cabinet Sub-Committee, headed by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
Sharing further details, Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said that over 180 police teams, comprising more than 1,100 police personnel and supervised by 74 gazetted officers, conducted the coordinated raids across the state. He added that police teams checked 362 suspicious individuals during the day-long operation.
The Special DGP also mentioned that the state government is implementing a three-pronged strategy—Enforcement, De-addiction, and Prevention (EDP) —to eliminate drugs from Punjab. As part of the de-addiction initiative, Punjab Police successfully motivated 61 individuals to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment on Tuesday.