219 nabbed with drugs, illicit liquor, weapons since poll code imposition

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Khanna (Ludhiana), May 8

The Khanna police have intensified their crackdown against violators of the model code of conduct (MCC), which had been in force since the announcement of the General Elections 2024 on March 16, across three Assembly segments falling under the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

The district police have arrested 219 criminals under various offences punishable under the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Excise Act and the Arms Act, from whom a huge cache of drugs, illicit liquor, drug money and weapons have been seized.

Besides identifying 48 troublemakers, the police have so far taken 158 history-sheeters and other anti-social elements under preventive custody. Also, 44 proclaimed offenders (POs) and parole jumpers have been arrested while all 564 non-bailable warrants (NBWs) have been executed in the police district, which is part of Ludhiana administrative district.

However, almost 84 per cent of the total 7,668 arms have been deposited with the police, which was mandatory as per the prohibitory order issued by District Magistrate (DM) Sakshi Sawhney till March 31.

Leading the special drive launched by the district police against poll code violations, Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amneet Kondal has directed the police force to ensure strict implementation of the MCC and allow no violation of the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the conduct of free, fair and peaceful General Election.

Sharing the action-taken report, Amneet told The Tribune here on Wednesday that 10 inter-district nakas (checkpoints) have been set up across the limits of three police dub-divisions and eight police stations falling under Khanna police district to maintain strict vigil on the movement of anti-social elements and check any illegal activity that may affect the smooth conduct of the elections. Two of these 10 special nakas have been made hi-tech and put under the round-the-clock CCTV supervision.

She said regular coordination meetings at the district, dub-division and police station levels were being held with counterparts and a separate WhatsApp number has been activated to receive, share and transmit the real-time information.

“As of now, two platoons of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been received by us, which are being used as part of the flying squad teams (FSTs) as well as other condition-based maintenance (CBM) purposes,” the SSP revealed while informing that of the total 383 polling station locations across Khanna police district, eight have been identified as vulnerable and five critical.

Amneet said 219 criminals had so far been arrested in 64 FIRs registered under the NDPS Act, Excise Act and Arms Act, from whom a huge cache of drugs, illicit liquor, weapons, drug money and unaccounted cash had been recovered.

The recovery included 414.5 litres of illicit liquor, 272.3 kg of poppy husk, 192 gm of heroin, 9.368 kg of opium, 7 kg of ganja, 51 gm of smack, 12 kg of poppy plants, 9,560 intoxicating pills and injections, Rs 66.04 lakh unaccounted cash, Rs 75,000 drug money, six .32-bore pistols, three countrymade .315-bore pistols, one countrymade 7.65 mm pistol and 12 cartridges.

“In a major operation, we had intercepted Rs 25 lakh unaccounted cash at a hi-tech naka on March 30 and later also, similar recoveries and seizures had been made following which cases had been handed over to the Income Tax Department for further proceedings in the matter,” she said.

The district police chief said 48 troublemakers had been identified so far while preventive action was taken against 38 of the total 46 history-sheeters as the remaining eight history-sheeters were already behind bars.

Under other preventive action, 41 POs and three parole jumpers had also been arrested while all the total 564 NBWs received since January 1 had already been executed as well.

The action against POs and absconders has led to the arrests of several wanted criminals while certain such elements were still on the run. However, entries of 53 POs and absconders have been deleted from police records following the due legal process.

Divulging details of arms licences, the SSP revealed that 6,445 arms license holders possessed 7,668 licensed weapons in the district, of which 6,412 arms, accounting for 83.62 per cent, had already been deposited with the police while the remaining 1,256 licensed weapons were yet to be deposited as per the mandate given in the MCC and prohibitory order issued by the DM.

She has urged all arms license owners, who have not yet deposited their licensed weapons, to hand over their arms to the nearest police post or station without any further delay, failing which stern action will be initiated against the violators.

“A special screening committee to scrutinise the arms licences and gun houses has been formed and is fully functional,” Amneet said, adding that there was no gun house located within the jurisdiction of Khanna police district.

Zero tolerance for violations: SSP

“We have adopted a zero tolerance for violations of the poll code across the district. Besides continuing with our routine exercises, we have set up special nakas to conduct search and seizure operations and are taking out flag marches to ensure free, fair and peaceful LS elections.” said Amneet Kondal, SSP, Khanna.

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