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1kg heroin seized, 98 people detained during Punjab Police’s special op
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that public display of weapons, even on social media, would be dealt with an iron hand, says operation conducted after the identification of drug and crime hotspots through data analysis
Punjab Police on Tuesday carried out a special cordon-and-search operation (CASO) aimed at checking the movement of anti-social elements and drug smugglers across the state.
During the operation involving 12,000 police personnel, 98 persons, including three proclaimed offenders, were apprehended and 97 first information reports (FIRs) registered.
“Police teams have also recovered 1kg heroin, ₹10.91 lakh drug money, 158 litres of illicit Liquor, 660kg lahan, 103kg poppy husk, 19kg bhang and 10,460 intoxicant tablets. Two pistols, one rifle and one gun along with ammunition and 30 motorcycles were seized as well,” Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a statement.
He said public display of weapons, even on social media, would be dealt with an iron hand.
Yadav, who led the state police force, said the cyber wing will keep a watch on social networking sites to check the violations. He also said that no new arms licence would be issued till the physical verification of previous licences in the next three months.
The special operation was conducted between 11am and 4pm simultaneously across all 28 police districts of Punjab. ADGP/IGP-rank officers from Punjab Police headquarters were deputed in each district to supervise the operation, according to an official release.
“The idea behind conducting CASO at such a large scale was to boost public confidence and increase the presence of cops to instil fear among the anti-social elements,” the DGP said in Ludhiana, where he joined ADGP (community affairs division and women affairs) Gurpreet Kaur and police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
Yadav said the operation was conducted after the identification of drug and crime hotspots through data analysis by district police forces.
“Proper frisking of suspects and complete search of houses was done under the supervision of senior officers,” he said, adding that sniffer dogs and drones were also deployed in these hotspots to ensure strict vigil.
The DGP said on the directions of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Police will uphold glorious tradition by serving the people and the force will not rest till the complete elimination of drugs and gangsterism from the state.
