676 drug smugglers arrested in a week: Punjab Police
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Jul, 2022 01:41 PM
Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) Intensifying its war against the drug menace in the state, Punjab Police on Monday said it has arrested 676 drug smugglers and suppliers after registering 559 first FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 in the past one week.
A police spokesperson said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has given Punjab Police a free hand to wage a war against drugs and extensive drives are being launched to combat the menace.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav has ordered all Commissioners of Police to strictly adhere to the government's zero-tolerance policy against drugs and keep vigil at "drug hotspots".
The spokesperson said the police have recovered 5.57 kg heroin, 17 kg opium, 25 kg ganja, seven quintals poppy husk, 2.25 lakh intoxicant pills and capsules, etc, after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas.
A total of 32 proclaimed offenders and absconders in the NDPS cases have also been arrested in the past week, he added.
He said the police busted a racket of making spurious drugs in Muktsar district. Drug peddlers were making duplicate heroin by mixing powder of 'patasha', a traditional sweet, washing soda, weed-killers and herbicides, both liquid and powder. The manufactured 'heroin', widely known as 'chitta', used to be sold among the poor.
As per the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, the harmonium is an instrument with colonial roots and was introduced in India by the British. It has urged that the harmoniums be replaced in three years with traditional string instruments during kirtans.
The bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Brij Raj Singh observed that the accused cops had indulged in a barbaric and inhuman killing of innocent persons by calling them terrorists.
During the previous hearing, Malik told the Court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him. He may not even challenge the sentencing in higher courts as he has himself pleaded guilty which means by all means, Malik will spend the rest of his life in Jail.
Cheema said school children from Punjab had fared better than their counterparts in Delhi when compared class wise right from class three, class five, class eight and class 10. He said Punjab students has stood first as far as comprehending mathematics was concerned, second in case of social sciences and third in case of English.
Lauding this farmer-friendly initiative, Mann said it would be instrumental to compile the entire data about each and every farmer, who has opted for DSR technique besides ensuring payment of Rs 1,500 per acre after proper verification through this portal to the genuine beneficiaries in a fair and transparent manner.
In the arguments before the sentencing, Malik told the court that he will accept hanging if the intelligence agencies prove any terror-related activities involving him.
