A Punjab Government spokesperson on Thursday clarified that the total number of drug peddlers arrested and jailed since his government took over in March 2017 was 18800.The clarification came amid reports of contradictions in the Chief Minister’s statements on the issue on different occasions.The spokesperson said that in an earlier statement, made during a live TV interview, the Chief Minister had cited 50,000+ as the total number but had inadvertently failed to specify it was the total number of peddlers arrested over the past five years. However, the press note issued on his behalf at that time (on May 7, 2018) had clearly cited the number of arrests made since his government took over at around 15,000.It was unfortunate that a section of the media, instead of seeking a clarification from the government, had interpreted the figures as a contradiction and sought to sensationalise the issue, said the spokesperson.The spokesperson clarified that, as per the latest Punjab Police figures, the exact number of arrests stood at 18800, with a total of 16305 cases registered, in the period from March 16, 2017 to June 24, 2018. Seizures in this period amounted to 377.787 kgs of Heroin, 116.603 kgs of Charas, 14.336 kgs of Smack, along with varying quantities of other drugs.Since 2014, till June 2018, the total number of arrests actually stood at 56136 (which the Chief Minister had broadly mentioned as 52000 in his TV interview), with a total of 48425 cases registered under the NDPS Act, said the spokesperson.