Chandigarh, July 13
Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang on Wednesday said the Bhagwant Mann-led government is committed to free the state from the drug menace, for which he held previous governments responsible.
He accused previous regimes of “just playing politics over the issue” and never showing real intent to eradicate it.
“Earlier, only drug addicts or those who consume drugs were arrested and were put behind the bars,” he told reporters here.
Kang said the AAP government has successfully managed to curb the flow of drugs into the state by arresting drug peddlers over the past four months.
A total of 676 drug peddlers have been arrested in one week, he said, adding that 559 FIRs were lodged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
He said 5.57 kg heroin, 17 kg opium, 25 kg ganja, seven quintals of poppy husk, and 2.25 lakh intoxicant pills or capsules, among other drugs, were seized in several cordon-and-search operations in the drug-affected areas.
It is a testament to the AAP government’s dedication to drug elimination, said Kang.
He said the director general of police has himself led the anti-drug drives across the state.
Directions were also issued to seize the property of proclaimed offenders involved in the drug trade, he said.
Kang said that at Punjab Police’s tip-off 75 kg of heroin was recovered from a container at Mundra Port in Gujarat.
The Mann-led government will not allow any drug trafficking nexus, he said.
“We will fulfil the promise of making Punjab a drug-free state,” he said.
Kang also warned of action by the state government against several station house officers against whom complaints of malpractice have been filed by the party MLAs.
“The Punjab CM is keeping an eye on several SHOs,” said Kang, adding that even inquiries against some of them have also begun.
AAP Govt committed to make Punjab drug-free state: Malvinder Kang
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