Drug-smuggling couple's illegal house on panchayat land demolished in Sultanpur Lodhi area

As part of the “War on Drugs” campaign launched by the Punjab Government to prevent drugs, a house built by drug smugglers on panchayat land in Sechan village was demolished on the orders of the Sultanpur Lodhi BDPO.

At the village, under Sultanpur Lodhi police station, Sarabjit Singh alias Babbi of Sechan, and his wife Jaspal Kaur alias Suman had built a house by occupying about 7 marla of panchayat land of the village. Both husband and wife were facing 17 NDPS cases, out of which 10 cases were registered against the man and the rest against his wife.

Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora said as per the orders given by the BDPO, the police had provided adequate security to the Rural Development Department for taking possession of their land.

The BDPO said the gram panchayat had issued notices to Sarabjit Singh and his wife three times under Section 34 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, to vacate the panchayat site, but the concerned illegal occupants did not do so.

Toora said the Panchayat Department had written to the police to provide police security to take possession of the panchayat site, under which police security was provided.

The SSP, while giving a stern warning to the drug traffickers under the Punjab Government's war on drugs campaign, said that action would continue against the illegal constructions done by them with the black money of drugs. He added that the Kapurthala police were working under a dual policy for prevention of drugs and rehabilitation of drug victims. He stated that efforts were being made to make drug victims employable by giving them vocational training so that the social scourge could be eradicated and the victims could be brought back into the mainstream of society.