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51 drones shot down near international border in one year: Punjab Police
In the past year, 51 drones have been shot down in Punjab along the border with Pakistan, as security agencies combat drug and weapon smuggling. Punjab Police have also arrested 143 terrorists and radicals, seizing firearms, explosives, and drugs. Additionally, 16,360 drug smugglers have been arrested, and properties worth ?26.72 crore have been forfeited. The anti-gangster task force has busted 208 criminal modules and arrested 688 gangsters.
With the increasing smuggling of drugs and weapons using drones from the across the border becoming major challenges for security agencies, 51 drones have been shot down in Punjab along the international border with Pakistan in the past one year.
Disclosing this during a press conference over drug recoveries by the state government, IG headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill said the official data from July 5, 2022, to July 16, 2023, reveals that Punjab Police have busted 18 terror modules with the arrest of 143 terrorist/radicals after recovering 31 rifles, 209 revolvers/pistols, five tiffin improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 6.78-kg RDX and other explosives, 10 hand grenades, one sleeve of disposed rocket launcher, 51 drones, and one loaded rocket propelled grenade.
“At least 244 drones have been spotted in Punjab this year so far. This year’s data on spotting of drones is not ready yet but concerted efforts between Punjab Police, BSF and other agencies have resulted in combating the threat from drones successfully,” said Gill.
He said Punjab Police have arrested 16,360 drug smugglers, including 2,351 big fish, since July 5, 2022. The police have registered 12,218 first information reports (FIRs), of which 1,458 are related to commercial quantity.
Gill said the police teams have recovered 1,073.44-kg 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, 147.5-kg heroin was recovered by the police from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 1,220.94 kg in just one year, he said.
Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said the police also recovered 797.14-kg opium, 902.13-kg ganja, 375.47 quintals of poppy husk, and 65.49 lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of pharma opioids from across the state. The police have also recovered ₹12.33 crore of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in the last one year.
He said Punjab Police have also forfeited properties of 66 big smugglers worth ₹26.72 crore during the last year. Barnala district remains on top by freezing 13 properties worth ₹2.34 crore, followed by, nine properties worth ₹1.72 crore forfeited by Fazilka district and six worth ₹1.13 by Malerkotla, he said.
Similarly, the anti-gangster task force (AGTF), since its formation on April 6, 2022, has succeeded in busting 208 gangster/criminal modules after arresting 688 gangsters/criminals and neutralising five, after recovering 667 weapons and 157 vehicles used in criminal activities. Pertinently, immediately after coming to power, CM Bhagwant Mann-led state government formed a special AGTF headed by ADGP Promod Ban to wipe out gangsters from the state.
