Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the step was taken reportedly on the instructions of the Chief Minister as part of his ‘drug free Punjab’ initiative.
In a decisive move against drug-related activities in Punjab, authorities have initiated a crackdown on illegal construction linked to narcotics smuggling. On Tuesday, a property owned by a suspected drug smuggler was demolished in Amritsar, following orders from the Punjab government. According to Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, the action was reportedly carried out under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as part of his ambitious ‘Drug-Free Punjab’ campaign.
“On instructions of the CM as part of his ‘drug free Punjab’ initiative, we are here in Maqboolpura to assist the municipal corporation in the demolition drive. Gurmeet Singh is a notorious smuggler and has three NDPS cases against him. He is presently lodged in jail,” Bhullar told news agency ANI.
He further said that as part of our drive from March 1 to 31, the Commissionerate of Police, Amritsar, 125 FIRs were lodged, and 237 smugglers were arrested. “6.36kg of heroin, 2.179 kg of opium, and 5513 pills and intoxicants were recovered in this month… 4 properties have been demolished on orders of the municipal corporation,” Bhullar added.
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Punjab Police’s crackdown on drug smugglers
On March 31, the Punjab Police arrested 48 drug smugglers and recovered 16.7 kg of heroin along with Rs 34,300 in drug money under the ongoing “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign, launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. With this, the total number of drug smugglers arrested in the last 31 days has reached 4,640.
The operation was conducted simultaneously across all 28 police districts of the state as per the directions of Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav. Notably, CM Bhagwant Mann has asked the Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, and Senior Superintendents of Police to make Punjab a drug-free state.
The Punjab government has also constituted a five-member Cabinet Subcommittee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the war against drugs. Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said that over 200 police teams, comprising more than 1,400 personnel under the supervision of 99 gazetted officers, conducted raids at 518 locations across the state.
(With ANI inputs)
