Drugs smuggling remained unabated during Assembly polls in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Feb, 2022 01:41 PM
New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) Huge quantity of drugs continued to be smuggled in Punjab during the Assembly polls in the state, Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) data suggest.
The NCB was keeping a close vigil on the drug smuggling cases in all the election-bound states, during which as many as 14 cases related to the seizure of drugs were reported from Punjab, which went to the polls in a single phase on February 20.
The agency constituted special teams to keep a check on drug smuggling during the Assembly elections in five states.
An NCB source said that the state police and other agencies also participated in the special operations being launched by the NCB.
"We recovered 105 kg heroin worth Rs 315 crore from Punjab. Apart from this, we seized 1,510 kg ganja and 1,870 kg hashish. One was held in a case pertaining to the seizure of hashish and ganja, while several others are still on the run," said the source.
Most of the drugs "might have" been smuggled in from across the border, which is a matter of grave concern, the source added.
In Uttar Pradesh, where elections are still underway, the NCB has lodged 10 cases and arreated 17 persons. Elevan persons involved in drugs smuggling are still at large in the state.
In Uttrakhand, only one case was lodged and four were held for supplying herion.
The party alleged that family members of Charanjit Singh Channi, a leader of the Congress, are being targeted in order to create a perception and influence electors into believing that Sardar Charanjit Singh Channi through his family members and the Indian National Congress is involved in the allegations of money laundering.
A complaint against Prateek Yadav, the younger son of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, had been sent to the investigating agencies in 2021 alleging fake companies being run by him. Prateek Yadav has a brother-in-law, Aman Singh Bisht, the younger brother of his wife Aparna Yadav.
National carrier Air India will commence normal operations to US from Friday, the airline said. On Tuesday, the national carrier said that it will not be able to operate a number of US-bound flights due to the deployment of 5G communications in the US.
Terming the nomination of Mann as a stage managed non-event, the SAD President said AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal never wanted to make Mann the face of the party in Punjab.
As per sources, the ED raided the house of Bhupinder Singh Honey, who is the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, on Tuesday and Wednesday, seizing around Rs 10 crore in cash from his premises.
On Monday, the political situation in Punjab and the names of probable candidates were discussed in detail at the BJP National Headquarters in Delhi under the chairmanship of party's National President J.P. Nadda, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah.
