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Punjab yet to provide info sought for extradition of 9 ‘drug lords’, Centre tells HC
The Centre tells HC that Canadian authorities had sought clarifications and additional information in seven requests for extradition of nine alleged drug lords booked by Punjab Police
The Centre on Thursday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that clarifications and additional information sought by the Canadian authorities in seven requests for extradition of nine alleged drug lords sitting abroad are pending with the Punjab government.
The information was given by the Centre in its latest status report sought by the high court in May this year, in a 2013 plea in which court is monitoring proceedings on Punjab’s drug menace.
The Centre has told court that in these seven cases sent to the Canadian authorities in 2016-17, the ministry of home affairs sought additional information/clarifications from Punjab on June 27, as desired by the Canadian authorities. The seven extradition cases include that of a woman, identified as Ranjit Kaur Kahlon. The other pertain to Ranjit Singh Aujla, Gursewak Singh Dhillon, Nirankar Singh Dhillon, Sarabjit Singh Sander, Lehmbar Singh Daleh, Amarjit Singh Kooner and Pardeep Singh Dhaliwal. All of them were booked in NDPS cases registered in Fatehgarh Sahib in 2013.
The Centre has said that the matter is being pursued by the High Commission of India in Ottawa with the Department of Justice, Canada.
As per the Centre, in the case of another “drug lord” Kanwar Baljit Singh, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), New Delhi, has been approached to provide additional information as sought by the Department of Justice, Canada. The case of Parminder Singh Deo, who was booked in Patiala in 2013 and against whom extradition proceedings were initiated in 2017, is also pending before the Canadian authorities, the court was told.
5,300 held in 3,800 drug cases in five months, Punjab Police tell HC
The Punjab Police arrested 5,379 people in 3,817 drug seizure cases in the first five months of this year, states the status report submitted in the Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday.
The police had filed the report in the 2013 suo motu plea, in which court is monitoring the state’s initiatives to deal with drug menace. The report also reveals that 108 police personnel have been dismissed from service since 2017 for their involvement in drugs cases.
According to the report, the highest seizures this year (till May 31) were of opium at 274 kg, against 123 kg of heroin and only 9 kg of charas recovered from drug peddlers in the same period. The report also reveals that 13 lakh pills and capsules of synthetic drugs were recovered in the first five months.
Meanwhile, six foreign nationals have been arrested, down from 26 in 2021. According to available figures, the Punjab Police had arrested 13,403 people in 9,926 drug seizure cases throughout 2021.
108-kg heroin seized during Punjab assembly polls, NCB tells HC
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has told the HC that, in coordination with the Punjab Police, it seized 108 kg of heroin during the state assembly polls earlier this year. The seizures were made during 376 searches, and three people were also arrested, the NCB has told the court.
It further said that in the 2017 assembly polls, 119 searches were conducted and only 7 kg of heroin was seized and 21 people were arrested.
The NCB, Chandigarh, which deals with states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh besides the UT, said that so far this year the central agency has arrested 17 persons in 42 drugs cases and 164 kg of heroin was seized in the first five months. Last year, the heroin seizure stood at 269 kg.
