Jalandhar: Amid the uproar over the Oct 13 murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav on Wednesday said Punjab Police flagged the critical issue of banned pharmaceutical drugs being supplied from other states with DGPs of respective states so that efforts could be made to curtail their unauthorised supply into Punjab.He also announced the launch of ‘new strategic frameworks’ to fight against drugs. The DGP said that the campaign had now transitioned into an intensive 60-day mission mode wherein all designated drug hotspots were being put under joint surveillance by senior police officers and gazetted officers from the civil administration round the clock. He emphasised that the central objective of this multi-pronged approach was to reclaim these vulnerable areas through community outreach and playgrounds for youth. The DGP was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a function to observe the Police Commemoration Day at the PAP complex.Emphasising a whole-of-govt approach, the DGP outlined future strategies focused on dismantling financial networks, targeting drug hotspots, modernising infrastructure with over Rs 1,600 crore investment, and bolstering cybersecurity capacities to effectively suppress criminal syndicates across the state.Interacting with media on the sidelines of the ceremony, the DGP said that Punjab Police had delivered a decisive blow to drugs. He said over 95,000 cases under the NDPS Act had been registered since March 16, 2022, leading to more than 1,27,000 arrests and the recovery of over 7,260 kg of heroin.“Striking at the economic roots of the narco-trade, Punjab Police has frozen properties worth Rs 902 crore belonging to drug traffickers—marking the highest forfeiture anywhere in the country—alongside securing an unprecedented 90% conviction rate in courts,” he said, adding that sustained anti-gangster operations launched in April 2022 had successfully dismantled as many as 1,288 organised criminal modules.
