Chemists strike against checking powers to cops

Chemists were on strike in the city the entire Thursday in protest against the Punjab government’s empowering the police to raid their shops without warrants to scan for drugs. The chemists said only drug inspectors were qualified to check their premises and stock and the police were not even equipped for the job.

Chemists were on strike in the city the entire Thursday in protest against the Punjab government’s empowering the police to raid their shops without warrants to scan for drugs.

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The chemists said only drug inspectors were qualified to check their premises and stock and the police were not even equipped for the job. Punjab Chemists Association, which led the agitation, asked the government to withdraw the decision.

In a memorandum to deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat, the association said it was with the government in the fight against drug abuse but chemists should not be harassed unduly. The daylong strike cause inconvenience to the people who needed medicines.