676 drug peddlers arrested in a week in Punjab

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Chandigarh, July 11

In order to eradicate drug menace from the state, the Punjab Police have arrested 676 peddlers after registering 559 FIRs under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the past one week.

Immediately after taking charge, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav had directed all SSPs to strictly adhere to the state government’s zero-tolerance policy against drugs.

Tightening the noose

The Muktsar police have noticed that due to the less availability of heroin, peddlers started preparing chitta by mixing potash powder, washing soda, herbicides and surfactants. —Sukhchain Singh Gill, IG (Headquarters)

Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said the police had seized 5.57 kg of heroin, 17 kg of opium, 25 kg of ganja, 7 quintals of poppy husk and 2.25-lakh intoxicating pills, besides other contraband.

Gill said as many as 32 proclaimed offenders and absconders in the NDPS cases had been arrested in the past seven days.

He said the DGP had ordered all SSPs to further tighten the noose around smugglers by identifying the hotspots under their jurisdiction and launching combing operations. The DGP also directed to forfeit the property of arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered, said Gill.