E-Paper
DGP: Police, VLDCs will work in tandem to curb drug menace
Conducts meeting with 44 village-level defence committees in Pathankot to devise a strategy to check drug supply from Pak
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday convened a meeting with 44 village-level defence committees (VLDCs) in Pathankot to devise a foolproof strategy to dismantle the drug supply network.
These committees play a vital role on ground in getting real-time info leading to the arrest of drug smugglers. Each committee has 20 members.
Inviting all VLDCs to work as cohesive teams, the DGP said Punjab Police have enforced a three-pronged strategy — enforcement, de-addiction and prevention — to completely root out the menace of drugs from the state. The DGP has sought support of the VLDCs for the same. He was accompanied by Amritsar border range DIG Narinder Bhargav and Pathankot SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh.
During the meeting, all VLDCs of Pathankot resolved to curb drug menace and declare their villages “drug-free zones”.
New IDs, unique jackets for VLDCs members
Yadav also bestowed the members with new identification cards and unique jackets to facilitate their identification.
During the meeting, the DGP stressed the need to revive an old human intelligence through real-time collection and sharing of information. He called for greater synergy between the police and VLDCs.
He has also ordered to equip village police officers with new beat books to streamline the sharing of vital drug-related information with the police and timely exchange of crucial intelligence between the community and law enforcement.
DIG Bhargav said initially village-level defence committees were formed for drone emergency response system (DERS). “The system works to activate the village-level defence committees concerned to immediately cordon off the area where drone movement is noticed so that no smuggler can collect the air-dropped contraband. The implementation of the DERS marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance border security,” he said.
Describing about the work of village-level defence committees for tackling drone-related threats, SSP Khakh said, “We have made WhatsApp groups of all committees. Our village police officers are also added to the groups. The primary duty of the group members is to keep a watch on the movement of drones in their village. As soon as any member detects movement of any flying object in the area, an alert will be sounded in the group. Our VPOs will also reach the site and try to shoot down the drone.”
The DGP also conducted a meeting with the police and administrative officials of two districts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The motive of the meeting was to stop the smuggling of drugs from J&K to Punjab, said an official who was part of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Yadav also inaugurated two newly constructed police stations — Sadar and Taragarh. The DGP also visited Gurdaspur district and conducted a meeting with 34 panchayats for curbing drug menace.
