Enforcement officers lauded for seizure of fake goods in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Mar, 2022 11:22 AM
Amritsar, March 28 (IANS) A former Delhi High Court judge Manmohan Sarin complimented the enforcement officers of Punjab for seizure of fake and smuggled consumer goods, alcohol, food products, gold and cigarettes.
Quoting the World Economic Forum data, he said illicit trade has resulted in an annual drain of $2.2 trillion which is approximately 3 per cent of the world GDP in 2020.
While complimenting the enforcement officers, he said their hands-on approach has led to large number of seizures in the state of fake and smuggled goods.
He was speaking at an interactive session by FICCI CASCADE on the 'Strategies' to combat smuggling and counterfeiting, here.
The objective was to facilitate a wider exchange of ideas and ensure a multifaceted perspective to understand the gravity of the menace caused by illicit trade.
Rahul Nangare, Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Amritsar, said 32 kg of gold from Afghanistan, 584 kg of heroin from Pakistan and 483 kg of cannabis were seized recently along Indo-Pakistan border in the state.
Talking about the menace of smuggling, he underscored the importance of inter-agency coordination, international collaborations, capacity building of officers and need for modern examination machine for creating a balance between enforcement and trade facilitation.
Sanjay Gaur, Deputy Inspector General, Border Security Force, highlighted the challenges such as difficult terrains, extreme climate and porous borders faced by BSF officers in their day-to-day operations in managing the security.
"Items such as heroin, arms and ammunition, gold, silver, tobacco are most smuggled items across borders," he added.
FICCI's Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) over the years has been actively focusing on curbing the problem of growing illicit trade in smuggled, pass-offs and counterfeit goods.
The accused, identified as Narender Sharma (53), was originally a resident of Dwarka in Delhi and was involved in arranging fake resident cards for people wanting to migrate to Schengen countries.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that Rs 18,000 crore have been returned to the banks in the case of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi.
The Special cell of Delhi Police has busted an inter-continental syndicate of cocaine traffickers operating in a highly organized manner and recovered a massive 1,850 grams of contraband valued at approximately Rs 10 crore in the international market.
According to the data, Punjab tops in the seizure of arms on western border with 110 arms seized during this period whereas the total arms recovered on western border is 134. In the year 2019, seven arms were seized, 42 in 2020, 58 in 2021 and three till January 25 this year in Punjab.
Rahim is on 21-day furlough from Sunaria jail and is camping in Gurugram. He will be getting 10 NSG security personnel for mobile security and eight security personnel for his residence security. The Haryana government's recommendation to grant the top layer security cover to the convicted sect leader comes following his request.
Many residential and industrial parts of the city faced major power outages as employees of the Electricity Department went on a three-day strike from Monday night in protest against the privatisation of the department. Most of the places have been facing snapping of power since midnight.
