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.
After the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 23.8 crore in violation of code, besides confiscating unaccounted cash till January 12, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab S. Karuna Raju said on Thursday.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
