State set to hold Dharamsala walkathon as anti-chitta drive intensifies

Following the Anti-Chitta Awareness Walkathon in Shimla, the Himachal Pradesh Police are set to organise a similar event in Dharamsala on December 1.

On November 1, while chairing a high-level meeting, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had said the state government would launch a decisive battle against ‘chitta’ on November 15 to eradicate the menace. He said a comprehensive, multi-level campaign would be run over the next three months, combining strategy and strict action against the ‘chitta’ mafia down to the grassroots.

He announced anti-chitta rallies would be held at the district, sub-divisional and other levels.

Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Tewari said on November 15, the Chief Minister had reiterated making the state Chitta-free was not merely a political declaration but the firm commitment of the government. He said the CM had emphasised every possible strict measure would be taken to uproot the Chitta mafia and the state’s youth would not be allowed to fall into the trap of drugs.

Tewari said, in line with this commitment, the state police carried out a major operation across the state, targeting 121 locations simultaneously to dismantle the Chitta trafficking network.

“This operation was conducted after several days of intelligence gathering, technical analysis and field inputs,” he said.

“During this joint action, raids were carried out across 13 police districts at 121 locations. Narcotics were seized in nine cases, including 3.77 kg of charas, 12.38 grams of heroin, 88.1 grams of opium, 1.15 kg of poppy husk, a homemade pistol and Rs 63,000 in cash. Significant seizures included 3.5 gk of charas and cash in Dehra; charas, opium and a homemade pistol in Baddi; Chitta and charas in Kullu; and poppy husk, charas, opium and Chitta in Una and Bilaspur,” Tewari said.

The DGP said, “Through the combined use of network-based surveillance, real-time monitoring, intelligence information, digital analysis and field action, every link in the Chitta trafficking network will be traced,” he said.