EACH SSP & CP HAS TO PRESENT THEIR PLAN TO ERADICATE DRUGS BY 31st MAY : GAURAV YADAV
— GOOD WORK WILL BE REWARDED; ACCOUNTIBILITY TO BE FIXED OF UNDERPERFORMING OFFICERS: DGP GAURAV YADAV
CHANDIGARH, April 28:
In an unprecedented legal blow to drug smuggling networks amidst the ongoing state-wide campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, Punjab Police has achieved a significant success on the legal front by attaining 89 percent conviction rate in the NDPS act cases since March 1, 2025, which is among highest in the country, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
As per the information, from March 1, 2025, a total of 836 NDPS Act cases were decided across the state, of which, 744 cases resulted in convictions.
“Among these cases, as many as 144 drug kingpins were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years or more, demonstrating the seriousness of law enforcement and judicial processes in drug trafficking cases,” said the DGP, while addressing a press conference at Punjab Police Headquarters here. He was accompanied by Special DGP Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Kuldeep Singh, ADGP ANTF Nilabh Kishore and IGP Headquaters Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that with the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has set the deadline to bring drugs availability on street to zero by May 31, all the CPs/SSPs have been directed to personally lead the “Mission Nasha Mukt Punjab” in their respective jurisdictions by ensuring professional policing.
Pertinently, the DGP has called a review meeting of all the CPs/SSPs on Tuesday, where the district chiefs will present their plan to eradicate drugs from their respective districts by May 31.
“CPs/SSPs have been directed to plan and execute all necessary measures to achieve the target and fix a target date, not later than May 31, 2025 – by which their areas would be completely drug free,” he said, while adding that after May 31, a rigorous field assessment to be conducted using intelligence sources and other means to verify the actual ground reality.
“Good work will be rewarded, while, the officers who would give false claims or if their performance found not up to the mark, their accountibility and responsibility will be fixed,” the DGP warned the officers, while clarifying that the focus of the police is not a figure based targets, but to completely break the supply chains to make drugs unavailable across the state.
He said that CPs/SSPs have already been directed to trace forward and backward linkages of the cases being registered under the NDPS act and take the cases to logical conclusion by exposing complete networks.
Stressing on the need for maximum citizen participation to wipe-out the scourge of drugs from the state, DGP Gaurav Yadav urged people of the state to make maximum use of Safe Punjab Anti-Drug Helpline ‘9779100200’ to report drug traffickers anonymously, citing that every tip received on the Helpline is being monitored on daily basis and the Chief Minister has been personally reviewing the progress.
Notably, Punjab Police has registered 503 FIRs registered and arrested 659 persons from the information received from the public on the Safe Punjab Drug Helpline.
The DGP said that Punjab Police has formed a three-pronged strategy— dismantling hawala networks, freezing assets and bulldozing illegal constructions— to break the financial backbone of drug smuggling.
Giving a major setback to economic infrastructure of drug smugglers, Police have arrested 31 hawala operators and seized ₹8.03 crore in drug money from their possession, while, under the stringent 68-F NDPS Act, the state has frozen properties worth ₹32.95 crore belonging to 81 smugglers, crippling their ability to launder money or reinvest in crime. Additionally, 72 Illegally constructed properties of drug smugglers have been demolished by local authorities in accordance with law.
Terming that this war against drugs is not about numbers, the DGP said that the Punjab Government has been dealing with drug users compassionately, and 689 persons caught with small quantity of drugs have been sent to de-addiction centres for treatment instead of jail using the provision under section 64-A of the NDPS act.
Sharing the outcomes of the ongoing ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, which has completed 59 days, he said that police teams have arrested 7414 drug smugglers including 1877 big fish after registering 4659 FIRs under the NDPS act since March 1, 2025, and recovered 297 kgs heroin, 100 quintals poppy husk, 153 kg opium, 95 kg ganja, 21.77 lakh tablets/capsules/pills and Rs 8.03 crores drug money from their possession. From these total arrests, as many as 1774 drug smugglers were arrested from 755 identified drug hotspots during at least 908 repeated targeted and effective CASO operations, he added.
Since the Punjab Police has adopted zero tolerance to use of force against police, DGP Gaurav Yadav said that 62 drug smugglers/gangsters have been injured in retaliatory fire by police teams in self-defence since March 1, 2025.
