Trace source of drugs: HC to state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear to Punjab that the Bench wanted the investigating agencies to go into the source of drugs.

A Division Bench of the High Court also called for details of the drug source and the record of FIRs registered during the past year in all districts of the state. The court was told that the proposed curriculum for colleges on the issue of perils of taking drugs too had been prepared.

The High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had come down heavily on Punjab for not including the chapter on the issue in the school syllabus, despite lapse of almost a year since the Bench underscored the necessity for it.

The Bench also dismissed the regular bail plea of Maninder Singh Aulakh alias Bittoo. He was seeking bail in a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, registered at a Patiala police station in March last year.

The developments, before the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sudip Ahluwalia, took place during the hearing of suo motu or court in its own motion case on drug menace in Punjab.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, advocate Navkiran Singh told the Bench that the narcotics control bureau had traced the source of drugs to a factory in Uttar Pradesh while probing a case at Amritsar.

He added the Punjab Police, most of the time, was content with the seizure of narcotics and often did not go beyond it to track down the source of drugs. Taking a note of the assertions, the Bench called for the details. The Bench also made it clear that only trustworthy policemen with proven track record should form a part of the investigating team.