676 drug smugglers arrested in a week: Punjab Police
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Jul, 2022 01:41 PM
Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) Intensifying its war against the drug menace in the state, Punjab Police on Monday said it has arrested 676 drug smugglers and suppliers after registering 559 first FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 in the past one week.
A police spokesperson said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has given Punjab Police a free hand to wage a war against drugs and extensive drives are being launched to combat the menace.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav has ordered all Commissioners of Police to strictly adhere to the government's zero-tolerance policy against drugs and keep vigil at "drug hotspots".
The spokesperson said the police have recovered 5.57 kg heroin, 17 kg opium, 25 kg ganja, seven quintals poppy husk, 2.25 lakh intoxicant pills and capsules, etc, after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas.
A total of 32 proclaimed offenders and absconders in the NDPS cases have also been arrested in the past week, he added.
He said the police busted a racket of making spurious drugs in Muktsar district. Drug peddlers were making duplicate heroin by mixing powder of 'patasha', a traditional sweet, washing soda, weed-killers and herbicides, both liquid and powder. The manufactured 'heroin', widely known as 'chitta', used to be sold among the poor.
"Indian students are being pushed out of trains, they are not allowed to board, if questioned they are being assaulted and guns are being pointed at them,". There are many incidents where Indians were asked to leave bunkers. Ukraninans are telling Indian students that India is not supporting them and why should they help them?
The two leaders reviewed the situation, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck, and discussed the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict areas, an MEA statement said.
Officials said the administration was in touch with the families of 32 students belonging to the Jammu division who are stranded in Ukraine. Officials said nine evacuation flights have so far brought back around 2,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine since February 26.
Bhullar was convicted and sentenced to death in 2011 in the 1993 Delhi bomb blasts case. In March 2014, however, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment owing to his ill health.
An official in Guwahati said that the Assam government so far prepared a list of 160 such students and the process of evacuating them has been going on in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry.
Addressing a virtual press conference from Romania, he said that over 4,000 students will be evacuated in the next three days. He said that six flights were operated from Bucharest to India on Wednesday.
