IEP CHANDIGARH, October 4     

     With the decisive war against drugs waged on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to root out drugs completes three months, Punjab Police have arrested as many as 5824 drug smugglers including 916 big fish since July 5, 2022. The Police have registered a total of 4444 first information reports (FIRs) of which 461 are related to commercial quantity.Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, who was addressing his weekly Press Conference here on Tuesday said that the Police teams have managed to recover 203Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. Additionally, 147.5Kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 350.5Kgs in just three months, he said.Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said that Police have also recovered 251Kg opium, 178Kg Ganja, 261 quintals of poppy husk, and 21.76 lakhs tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 4.15 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in these three months.Giving weekly update, the IGP said that last week, the police arrested 392 drug smugglers after registering 293 FIRs including 30 related to commercial quantity, and recovered 8Kg Heroin, 30Kg opium, 10Kg Ganja, 6 quintals of poppy husk, and 38578 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids, he said.He said that with 19 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested this week, the total number of arrests reached 342 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.          Meanwhile, on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State. The DGP has also strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to identify all hotspots where drugs are prevalent and all top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions. He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.

IEP Chandigarh, October 4

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday launched official jersey of Punjab Civil Secretariat Cricket Club, Chandigarh at his office here.

Patting the back of the club functionaries for their feats during recent tournaments, the Chief Minister reiterated the firm commitment of state government to restore the pristine glory of the state in field of sports. He said that strenuous efforts are already being made by the state in this regard. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that the state government has already enhanced the sports budget to build new stadiums at village level, from where the natural talent is produced but had been hitherto ignored. Talking about the sports extravaganza ‘Khedan Wattan Punjab Diyan’ started from August 29, he envisioned that these games will boost the sporting activity in state by channelising unbounded energy of the players in a positive direction.

Inspiring the club functionaries for their future endeavour, the Chief Minister promised all the logistic support for the club.

Notably, the official jersey of the club was sponsored by Aryan Group of Colleges, Rajpura. Amongst others who were present on the ocassion included Club President Satish Chander, Senior Vice President Gurpreet Singh, Chairman of Aryan Group of Colleges Dr. Anshu Kataria.

IEP Chandigarh October 4

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau during its anti-corruption campaign on Tuesday, has registered a corruption case against Revenue Patwari Amirk Singh, posted in Revenue Halqa Palla Megha, district Ferozepur and his accomplish Jarnail Singh for demanding bribe of Rs 10,000 and 50,000 respectively.

Giving this information here today, a spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) said the accused Patwari and his accomplish has been booked under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act after the investigation report prepared on the basis of an online complaint lodged by a complainant Jagtar Singh of village Langiana, Ferozepur district on State Anti-Corruption Helpline. In this regard a FIR has been registered at VB Police Station Ferozepur.

Revealing the details, the spokesperson informed that the complainant has alleged in his complaint that the above mentioned Patwari and his middle man was demanding bribe for mutation of his land. In addition to this the complainant has submitted that the above mentioned private person has demanded Rs 50,000 as a bribe on behalf of Patwari to issue copies of mutation and girdawari of his ancestral land thereby he recorded the conversation on his phone. Further investigation in this case was under progress, he added.

In another case, the VB has registered a bribery case against Aman Masih, Reader to Tehsildar, Ferozpur and Surjit Singh, Circle Kanungo, Halqa Arifke, Ferozpur district.

Giving more details the spokesman informed that the complainant Angrej Singh, village Dulla Singh Wala, Ferozpur has lodged a complaint against the above mentioned accused on the toll-free anti-corruption helpline.

The complainant has alleged that the accused Reader has demanded Rs 20,000 for Tehsildar and Rs. 5000 for himself in lieu of executing the court orders to give him possession of his land. He further alleged that the above said Kanungo had not implemented the possession warrants in this case and in connived with the opposition party.

The spokesperson informed that in this regard a case has been registered after thorough investigation into the complaint under section 7 of prevention of corruption act and under section 420, 465, 466, 468, 471, 120-B of IPC at VB police station, Ferozpur. Further investigation in this case is under progress.

IEP Chandigarh October 4

 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state has arrested  Inspector PUNSUP Raman Gaud, posted at Barnala for accepting a bribe of Rs 25000.

In another case ex Sarpanch of village Ajnauda Khurd, Patiala for misappropriation in Panchayat funds to the tune of Rs 5.70 lakh.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the VB said Inspector PUNSUP has been nominated as an accused during the investigation of FIR No. 25/21 registered at VB police station Patiala. He informed that the allegations against him were that he along with another PUNSUP Inspector Pukhraj Singla had taken a bribe of Rs 25,000 from an Artiya for getting his bills cleared. In this case Pukhraj Singla had already been arrested. The VB team during the search has recovered an amount of Rs 3.40 lakh from him.

Further investigation in the case was under progress.

The spokesperson further added that in another case the VB Patiala Range has arrested Ex Sarpanch Sukhwinder Kaur of village Ajnauda Khurd, district Patiala on the allegations of embezzlement in Gram Panchayat funds amounting to Rs 5.70 lakh during her tenure. Further investigation in the case was under progress, he added.

IEP CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 4       

    Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unravel the entire conspiracy of escape of Gangster Deepak Tinu from police custody in Mansa and to ensure effective and speedy investigation into this case.           The SIT comprises Inspector General of Police (IGP) Patiala range MS Chhina as Chairperson, while, three members include AIG Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) Opinderjit Singh, SSP Mansa Gaurav Toora and DSP AGTF Bikramjeet Singh Brar. Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station City-1 Mansa shall offer complete assistance to the SIT, while, the SIT can also co-opt any other officer from Bathinda and Patiala Ranges for assistance.           DGP Gaurav Yadav apprised that investigations into this case are going on at full pace and several Police teams are on manhunt to nab the escapee.            Adopting a proactive approach, Punjab Police had immediately suspended and apprehended the errant Mansa CIA Incharge Pritpal Singh and First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him for dereliction in duty. The accused cop was also dismissed from the service under article 311.           The DGP said that the SIT will conduct a day-to-day investigation into this case and all persons against whom evidence comes on record will be arrested and a police report against them will be submitted in the concerned court of trial. Meanwhile, the SIT has been directed to conclude the investigation in an expeditious manner.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 4

:With Punjab Police having further intensified vigil and alertness against anti-social elements ahead of the festival season on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Rural Police has busted an ISI-backed Narco-Terrorism module. Its main operative has been arrested after recovering arms and explosives from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy.The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, resident of Village Rajoke in Tarn Taran, besides, the Police have also identified five more accomplices, who were part of the module in carrying out illegal activities across Punjab and adjoining states.The police have recovered a one RDX loaded Tiffin Box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or Tiffin Bomb; two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges; one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges; and 2 KG Heroin from the accused.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused Yograj is the main operative of this module and wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases including the one wherein five AK-47 assault rifles were seized in Tarn Taran in September 2019.He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the cross-border operations of arms-explosives-drugs smuggling was mainly handled by Yograj on the directions of terrorists/gangsters Landa, Rinda and Happy and jailed smuggler Gurpavitar alias Sai of Lakhna, Tarn Taran. Yograj had been active in recovery and further delivery of consignments of Arms and Drugs at a large scale, he added.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma said that the Police has made a major strike in exposing members of Landa-Rinda terror module. In the present module, the Police have managed to identify five operatives of the gang and manhunt has been launched to nab them, he added.He said that further investigations are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon.Meanwhile, FIR no 107 dated 04/10/2022 has been registered under sections 21/27-A/29/61/85 of the NDPS Act and sections 25/54/59 of Arms Act at Police Station Ramdas in Amritsar Rural.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 4

:With Punjab Police having further intensified vigil and alertness against anti-social elements ahead of the festival season on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Rural Police has busted an ISI-backed Narco-Terrorism module. Its main operative has been arrested after recovering arms and explosives from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy.The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, resident of Village Rajoke in Tarn Taran, besides, the Police have also identified five more accomplices, who were part of the module in carrying out illegal activities across Punjab and adjoining states.The police have recovered a one RDX loaded Tiffin Box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or Tiffin Bomb; two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges; one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges; and 2 KG Heroin from the accused.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused Yograj is the main operative of this module and wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases including the one wherein five AK-47 assault rifles were seized in Tarn Taran in September 2019.He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the cross-border operations of arms-explosives-drugs smuggling was mainly handled by Yograj on the directions of terrorists/gangsters Landa, Rinda and Happy and jailed smuggler Gurpavitar alias Sai of Lakhna, Tarn Taran. Yograj had been active in recovery and further delivery of consignments of Arms and Drugs at a large scale, he added.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma said that the Police has made a major strike in exposing members of Landa-Rinda terror module. In the present module, the Police have managed to identify five operatives of the gang and manhunt has been launched to nab them, he added.He said that further investigations are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon.Meanwhile, FIR no 107 dated 04/10/2022 has been registered under sections 21/27-A/29/61/85 of the NDPS Act and sections 25/54/59 of Arms Act at Police Station Ramdas in Amritsar Rural.