E-Paper
Punjab all set to procure 9 anti-drone systems by July, says DGP Gaurav Yadav
“Punjab government is all set to procure anti-drone systems to be deployed along the 532-km long international border with Pakistan to keep check on the foreign drones smuggling drugs and arms,” DGP Gaurav Yadav said.
Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav on Wednesday said that all the formalities regarding the procurement of nine anti-drone systems have been completed.
“Punjab government is all set to procure anti-drone systems to be deployed along the 532-km long international border with Pakistan to keep check on the foreign drones smuggling drugs and arms. All the formalities related to the procurement have been completed and the required permissions have been sought from the Union home department. The order has already been placed for nine such systems and we are expecting to get it by July,” the DGP said after a high-level review meeting related to law and order situation and internal security at PAP headquarters in Jalandhar.
In May, the state government had cleared a proposal to procure an anti-drone system at an outlay of ₹51.41 crore to be deployed at the state’s border with Pakistan.
“Once installed, these anti-drone systems will enhance the capability to detect and neutralise hostile drones, thereby preventing the influx of arms, explosives and narcotics that are smuggled from across the border,” DGP Yadav added.
Yadav held a meeting with senior officials from the ADGP level to SSPs to review the ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ (war on drugs) campaign.
He was accompanied by special DGP (internal security) RN Dhoke, Special DGP ANTF Kuldeep Singh, Special DGP (law and order) Arpit Shukla, ADGP ANTF Nilabh Kishore and IGP Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill.
Yadav said the police, in the first three months of an intensive anti-drug campaign, resulted in the arrest of over 15,000 drug smugglers and a roadmap for complete eradication of drugs from the state is in place.
“To achieve this objective, a two-pronged strategy is being adopted to further dismantle the narcotics network by segregating big drug suppliers/peddlers from the drug users, with stringent legal action against traffickers, while motivating users to undergo de-addiction treatment,” he said.
He added that the aim is to choke the supply chain by isolating and punishing the actual drug dealers while offering a compassionate path to recovery for drug users.
Yadav said that the police has also been shifting its focus from list-based enforcement to information-based enforcement by taking swift action on the tips being received on the ‘Safe Punjab Chatbot’.
“Our major thrust is to further popularise the Safe Punjab Chatbot so that action can be taken at point-of-sale of drugs using information from the public,” he said. He exhorted people to report drug-related information confidentially at Safe Punjab Chatbot: 9779100200.
He also highlighted the humane aspect of their strategy, noting that 1,121 drug users caught with small quantities have been sent for rehabilitation under the provision of Section 64-A of the NDPS Act instead of being treated as criminals.
“Punjab Police is also exploring the use of GPS anklets to track and monitor activities of big drug smugglers released on bail. We are examining the proposal from a legal point of view to track the movement and monitor activities of bailed-out big smugglers through GPS anklets with the approval of the competent court,” he said.
Sharing the outcome of the anti-drug campaign, the DGP said that police have registered 9,087 FIRs and arrested 15,495 drug smugglers since March 1, 2025, and recovered 607 kg heroin, 249 kg opium, 14 tonnes of poppy husk, 9 kg charas, 263 kg ganja, 2.5 kg ICE, 1.6 kg cocaine, 26.35 lakh intoxicating pills/tablets and ₹10.83 crores drug money from their possession.
Additionally, illegally acquired properties of 144 drug smugglers worth ₹74.27 crore have been frozen, he added.
