In line with the strategy of the Bhagwant Singh Maan Government of Punjab to root out drugs under the 'war against drugs', a special corsin and searching operation was conducted in Balongi area led by Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla at Mohali today. He said that a statewide special searching campaign was started today in 228 hot-spot areas falling under the 25 districts and Three Commissionerates of Punjab under 'Cordon and Search Operation' (CASO).
He said that the senior police officers of Punjab Police have been sent today to lead and supervise the CASO carried out at different places in the state. He said that around 280 police officers and employees participated in CASO in Mohali, including one SP, 9 DSPs, three traffic in-charges and 254 other police personnel.
He said that during the operation 12 suspects were rounded up for questioning while a case of drug possession was registered against one person. He himself also participated in this search operation along with DIG Ropar Range Harcharan Singh Bhullar and SSP Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Deepak Pareek.
According to Mr Shukla, strict action is being taken against the drug smugglers, apart from making efforts to rehabilitate the drug-affected youth of Punjab as per the instructions of the Punjab government. He said that about 600 crore of property of drug smugglers has been attached from those commerical quantity of drugs were recovered last year.
Special DGP Arpit Shukla, while responding to a query posed by the media about curbing transborder drug smuggling, said that seven districts of the state are bordering the international border, which has a 554 km long border. He said that the Punjab Police have maintained full coordination with the Border Security Force to stop drug smuggling through drones or other means.
He said that apart from this, the Civil Defense Line has also been strengthened. He said that the role of Village Defense Committees in this matter is highly commendable. He said that the Punjab Government has also sanctioned an amount of Rs. 40 crore for installing CCTV cameras at sensitive places in the border areas for prevention and surveillance.
He said that the campaign against drug menace will remain continue till the elimination of drugs from Punjab's soil. SP (City) Harbir Singh Atwal, DSP Kharar Karan Singh Sandhu and DSP Mohit Aggarwal were also present.