Punjab to detain drug peddlers up to a year under special provision

Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 16

Punjab has decided to detain drug smugglers for a period ranging from three months to a year without registering any case under the special provisions in the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. The Special Task Force (STF)  has prepared a list of top 50 smugglers for the purpose.

STF and Punjab Home Department officials met Advocate General AS Nanda here on Tuesday regarding the setting up of the mandatory advisory board for approving such cases of detention. The government was seeking legal opinion on whether the concurrence of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was a must and if a sitting judge was to be appointed as the board head.

Mohammad Mustafa, DGP, who was recently appointed STF chief, argued that it was one of the best ways to prevent smuggling. “Many a time, smugglers are granted bail on technical grounds. We have prepared a list of 50 top smugglers, most of them in Category ‘A+’, which means they have been caught with 2 kg or more heroin. 

Habitual offenders are listed in Category A. This means they have been nabbed with heroin ranging from 250 gm to 2 kg. “Some of them are behind bars and may eventually get bail. We intend to invoke the detention clause in the NDPS Act and detain them,” he explained.  

“Under the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking (PIT-NDPS), Act, 1988, the police are empowered to detain a habitual drug peddler for a year,” the DGP added.