“Will teach good lesson to ISI…”: Punjab DGP warns Pakistan’s intel agency
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav issued a stern warning to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on Monday, stating that the Punjab Police will teach a good lesson to the ISI and the terrorists and gangsters it supports in the state.
The DGP alleged that the ISI is attempting to divert police attention from the ongoing “war against drugs” by orchestrating grenade attacks at police stations and sensitive locations in Punjab. “We will not allow this to happen,” Yadav emphasised.
To improve policing effectiveness, the tenure of a Munshi at a police station will be limited to two years. Although the DGP did not provide a reason for this decision, police sources suggest it aims to prevent corruption and compromised investigations due to extended stays at one police station.
During a press conference, Yadav revealed that the anti-drug campaign has forced drug couriers and smugglers to retreat, resulting in a decline in heroin supply from Pakistan. Intelligence inputs indicate that the campaign’s success has rattled the ISI, prompting them to devise strategies to destabilise Punjab and disrupt the anti-drug drive.
Yadav assured that the Punjab Police will not allow the ISI to destabilise the state and will ensure severe punishment for those attempting to disturb the peace. He cited the neutralisation of the key accused in the Thakur Dwara Mandir attack in Amritsar as an example of the police’s commitment to maintaining law and order.
The DGP stated that the impact of ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ is undeniable, with intelligence confirming that drug couriers are now hesitant to collect heroin packets dropped by Pakistani smugglers. This signals a major disruption in the supply chain.
Under this campaign, the Punjab Police has been targeting actual street drug peddlers and smugglers, while drug victims are not being harassed unnecessarily and are being admitted to de-addiction centres for treatment. These special operations against drugs are being conducted under the supervision of senior police officers, of the rank Special DGPs, ADGPs, IGPs and DIGs, who have been allotted different districts.
DGP Yadav lauded the efforts of the cabinet sub-committee for bringing together all departments to eradicate the drug menace from the state. The Punjab Government has constituted a five-member Cabinet sub-committee, led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, to monitor the anti-drug campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’.
To make this drive more effective, the Punjab Police is launching a comprehensive district-level mapping initiative to determine the prevalence of specific drugs in each district. This will help implement targeted action plans to root out the menace from the state. All officers in the field, from CPs and SSPs to SHOs, are being given quantifiable targets, and their effectiveness will be assessed based on these targets and parameters.
Sharing outcomes of the 17 days of ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, DGP Yadav said that the Punjab Police arrested 2,575 drug smugglers after registering 1,651 FIRs across the state since March 1, 2025. During this drive, police teams seized significant quantities of heroin, opium, poppy husk, and other narcotics from arrested drug smugglers.
Additionally, the newly launched Safe Punjab Anti-Drug Helpline ‘9779100200’ has gained popularity, allowing citizens to report drug traffickers anonymously. The helpline has witnessed an increase in tips from the public in recent days.
