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Punjab anti-drug task force gets more teeth, new name
Bhagwant Mann says Anti-Narcotics Task Force will be equipped with additional manpower, resources and technology to combat drug menace
The Punjab government on Wednesday rechristened the Special Task Force (STF) — the apex state-level drug law enforcement unit — as Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), equipping it with additional manpower, resources and technology to combat drugs menace.
This is the second agency whose name has been changed by the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government. Earlier, the government renamed the Punjab Police’s Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) to Anti-gangster Task Force (AGTF).
The STF, a separate wing of Punjab Police, was the brainchild of then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government and was set up in 2017.
Inaugurating the new office of the ANTF at Sector 79 in Mohali, chief minister Bhagwant Mann launched an Anti-drug Helpline and WhatsApp Chatbot (9779100200).
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said the existing manpower of the ANTF is being doubled from the present 400 to 861, adding that these new posts for ANTF will be created as part of the 10,000 new posts coming up for the police department.
Mann said the Punjab government has provided ₹12 crore in the current financial year (2024-25) to develop the newly established intelligence and technical unit of the ANTF into a state-of-the-art agency by procurement of hi-tech software, hardware and upgradation of infrastructure. In order to improve the mobility of the ANTF, 14 new Mahindra Scorpio vehicles will be provided.
The CM further said: “A separate one acre land will be provided to the ANTF in Mohali to establish its independent headquarters. ₹10 crore will be sanctioned to the ANTF from the Punjab state cancer and drug addiction treatment infrastructure fund for the implementation of the enforcement-de-addiction-prevention strategy of the state government.”
He said that the special cell be functional on the second floor at the Sohana police station, Sector 79, Mohali, adding that the building has been recently renovated at a cost of ₹90 lakh.
Mann said that Anti-Drug Helpline and WhatsApp Chatbot (9779100200) option has been launched for successful fight against drugs. The helpline will provide ordinary citizens and drug addicts an opportunity to inform about drug traffickers and ensure medical help for the addicts who intend to undergo de-addiction, he said.
“This will help in curbing drug trafficking at grassroots- level and identifying the big fishe involved in this heinous crime,” Mann said, adding the identity of the informer will be kept secret.
Mann said the new force is not merely “old wine in a new bottle” but it has been equipped with additional manpower, resources and technology to combat the menace of drugs effectively.
The ANTF is headed by special DGP Kuldeep Singh.
Elaborating on the functioning of the ANTF, a senior official aware of the matter said: “The ANTF will focus only on big cases requiring technical skills and will act as a specialised investigation agency. The STF used to register FIRs even in small cases.”
The CM further said that the police have been solving serious cases pertaining to law and order effectively. He said that a zero tolerance policy has been adopted in such cases, adding that immediate actions of the police in the Khanna desecration case and attack on an NRI in Amritsar have been highly lauded by one and all.
“The police are effectively manning 532km of International Border along with the state to protect the unity and integrity of the country,” he added.
“Many big fish involved in drug peddling have been put behind the bars and FIRs have been registered against them. Properties worth ₹173 crore belonging to 379 drug smugglers have been confiscated and more are in process,” the CM said.
(Inputs from HTC Mohali)
