IEP CHANDIGARH/SANGRUR, July 27:
As the ongoing anti-drug campaign launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann started gathering mass support, Punjab Police on Thursday achieved major success after at least 67 villages and 20 wards of the Sangrur district have passed a resolution to oppose and socially boycott drug sellers and make their villages drug-free. This is yet another achievement came amidst the series of Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) focused on drug trafficking, anti-social elements and criminals being conducted by the Punjab Police to make Punjab a drug-free and crime-free state. On Wednesday, residents of two notorious areas in district Sri Muktsar Sahib including village Midda and Mohalla Chhajghar of Malout had pledged to stay away from drugs. On Day-4, the CASO was conducted in two districts of Patiala Range including Sangrur and Barnala on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav. The entire operation was conducted under the overall supervision of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Patiala Range Mukhwinder Singh Chhina and SSPs were directed to meticulously plan this operation and deploy maximum Police Force. While congratulating the Sangrur Police team for achieving this milestone, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla exhorted the public to come forward to completely eradicate the menace of drugs from the state to transform it into the ‘Rangla Punjab’. He said that Punjab Police have not been leaving any stone unturned to nab the drug smugglers to break the drug supply, but public support is a must to cut the demand. Divulging more details, the Special DGP said that the Police teams have arrested 11 anti-social elements after registering eight first information reports (FIRs) during the operation. Apart from this, the Police teams have also rounded up 60 suspicious persons for questioning, he added. The Special DGP said that the strong force of 1200+ Police personnel under the supervision of SSP Sangrur Surendra Lamba and SSP Barnala Sandeep Kumar Malik carried out CASO in drug hotspots identified in their respective districts. Meanwhile, IGP Mukhwinder Singh Chhina has specially invited 10 such panchayats for a meeting to appreciate their efforts in the fight against drugs. He urged more people to join hands with the Punjab Police to wipe out drugs from the state.
