₹45L cash, 30kg poppy husk seized during Punjab Police’s special ops against drugs trafficking

The operation was conducted in a synchronised manner from 8 am to 2 pm, jointly with the police forces of four neighbouring states— Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir— and Chandigarh

The Punjab Police on Saturday conducted a special operation ‘OPS Seal-III’ aimed at checking vehicles entering the border state to keep a tab on drug trafficking, liquor smuggling and the movement of gangsters and anti-social elements, officials said.

The Punjab Police on Saturday conducted a special operation ‘OPS Seal-III’ aimed at checking vehicles entering the border state to keep a tab on drug trafficking, liquor smuggling and the movement of gangsters and anti-social elements. (Twitter)

The operation was conducted in a synchronised manner from 8 am to 2 pm, jointly with the police forces of four neighbouring states— Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir— and Chandigarh on the directions of Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav. The police seized ₹45 lakh in cash, 30kg of poppy husk, 374 grams of heroin, 500 grams of charas and 263 litres of illicit liquor during the operation.

Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said 1,500 personnel were deployed at well-coordinated checkpoints at entry and exit points of 10 districts that share boundaries with the border states and Union Territories. The 10 inter-state border districts are Pathankot, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Ropar, SAS Nagar, Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda.

He said that during the operation, a thorough search of suspected vehicles and persons was conducted while ensuring minimum inconvenience to the general public.

“We had strictly instructed all the police personnel to deal with every commuter in a friendly and polite manner while checking their vehicles during the course of this operation,” he added.

According to Shukla, 5,726 vehicles entering the state were checked, of which 329 were challaned and 25 impounded. The police registered 40 FIRs after arresting 49 persons. The police teams also arrested two proclaimed offenders and rounded up 715 suspicious people for questioning.

Banned tablets, 25gm intoxicants recovered in Patiala

Patiala Local police on Sunday recovered 20kg of poppy husk, 1,260 banned tablets, 25 grams of intoxicants and 100 bottles of illegal liquor during the special operation at interstate borders. In total eight checkpoints were placed at interstate borders to keep a tab on drug trafficking, liquor smuggling and movement of gangster and anti-social elements. Patiala SSP Varun Sharma said FIRs have been lodged against the accused at the concerned police station after the recoveries were made from them. The district police have also seized properties worth crores of five drug smugglers.