Raja Warring bats for poppy cultivation in Punjab; Harpal Cheema seeks dope test of Congress leaders

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday said the cultivation of poppy should be allowed in the state as its consumption was less harmful than synthetic drugs.

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Reacting to it, Punjab Finance Harpal Cheema sought a dope test of the Congress and Akali leaders.

Warring, while telling asking Cheema not to politicise the issue, said, “While I welcome Cheema’s suggestion, let me ask why to conduct dope tests only on Akali and Congress leaders, why not on AAP leaders also?”

He said drug addiction was a reality and ending it was a challenging task.

“Merely registering cases or demolishing a few houses of petty peddlers was not going to solve the problem,” he said.

Warring said, according to media reports, at least eight to nine people had died due to drug overdose after May 31, the deadline set by the Punjab government to end the drug problem in the state.

9,693 drug cases in 100 days

The Punjab Police have registered 9,693 FIRs and arrested 16,533 drug smugglers within 100 days of its campaign against drugs, a senior officer said on Monday.

The drive, "Yudh Nashian Virudh", was launched on March 1 to end the drug menace in the state.

According to the police, they froze assets worth Rs 78.52 crore of 157 drug smugglers.

Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said hawala network had been effectively disrupted with the arrest of 48 big operators, resulting in the seizure of Rs 13.03 crore drug money.

“The freezing of illegally acquired properties and seizure of drug money from arrested drug smugglers have dealt a setback to the economic infrastructure of drug smugglers and their network," he added.

He said the police on Monday arrested 127 drug smugglers and seized 4.1 kg of heroin, 20 kg of poppy husk and Rs 2.20 lakh drug money.

Over 200 police teams, comprising over 1,400 police personnel, under the supervision of 90 gazetted officers, conducted raids at 466 locations across the state leading to the registration of 99 FIRs, he said. The police teams also checked 489 suspicious persons during the day-long operation, he added.