With the special drive to root out drug menace from the State almost completed a month, Punjab Police have till date arrested as many as 2,205 drug smugglers, including 260 big fish, since July 5, 2022.
The Police have registered a total of 1,730 First Information Reports (FIRs) in the span, of which 145 are related to commercial quantity.
“The Police have also recovered Rs 48.95 lakh drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested the previous month,” said the state Inspector General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill, addressing the weekly press conference on Monday.
In addition to this, the Police have also arrested 99 Proclaimed Offenders (POs) and absconders wanted in NDPS cases in the past month, he added.
Divulging monthly updates on drugs recovery, the IGP said that the Police have recovered 30 kg heroin, 75 kg opium, 69 kg ganja, and 185 quintals of poppy husk besides recovering 12.56 lakhs tablets, capsules, injections, vials of pharma opioids from across the State after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas, besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the State.
In the past week, the police have arrested no less than 453 drug smugglers after registering 329 FIRs and recovered 8.4 kg heroin, 10 kg opium, two kg ganja, and 21 quintals of poppy husk, besides recovering Rs 10.46 lakhs drug money, he said.
IGP Gill said that on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the weekly performance of all the police districts is being reviewed and the three topmost districts will be selected on the basis of the recovery of drugs and drug money, cases registered, arrests of drug smugglers and Pos, and absconders. The topmost three districts will then be rewarded by the Chief Minister, he said.
With the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav already given clear instructions regarding not to tolerate any black sheep in the uniform, the IGP said that action against six such Police personnel including one DSP, has already been taken after they were found indulged in malpractices.
Meanwhile, the DGP has strictly ordered all the Commissioners of Police (CPs) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) to further tighten the noose around the drug smugglers by identifying all top drug smugglers and the hotspots infamous for drug smuggling in their jurisdictions and launching a combing operation to nab all those selling or smuggling drugs.
He also directed the district Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.
3710 tramadol tablets, 4.7 kg intoxicant powder recovered from house of dismissed cop
Punjab Police on Monday recovered 3710 intoxicant tablets (Tramadol SR 100 mg) and 4.7kg intoxicant powder from the house of dismissed Inspector Parminder Singh Bajwa—a week after he and his two cop aides were dismissed from services for falsely implicating two persons in a drug case and also extorting a huge amount of money from them.
Notably, the Punjab Police had dismissed Inspector Bajwa, ASI Angrej Singh, and Head Constable Joginder Singh — all posted at Narcotic Control Cell in Ferozepur — past week after they falsely implicated two persons in a drug case. They were also accused of extorting a huge amount of money from them.
Sharing the information, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill on Monday said that continuing the investigation in the case, the police teams from Ferozepur had conducted a search at the rented private house of dismissed Parminder Bajwa and recovered a huge quantity of intoxicants.
The search was conducted following the due procedure in the presence of the duty magistrate, he added.
IGP Gill said that regarding this recovery, a fresh FIR, dated August 1, 2022, has been registered against dismissed Inspector Bajwa under relevant sections of the NDPS Act at Police Station Kulgarhi in Ferozepur. Further investigation is going on, he added.
