Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday ordered the state police to launch a crackdown against those involved in selling narcotics and asked it to take action against any politician found to be conniving with the drug mafia. Mann chaired a meeting of the anti-drug special task force team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, said an official release here. Mann told police officials that neither politicians nor officers should be spared if found conniving with the mafia.
He asked the officers to work without any political pressure with a focus on making Punjab a drug-free state. "To my mind, some police officers might have been working earlier under certain compulsions but all officers are not alike. However, few drug peddlers might be getting political patronage in the past but now this shall not happen and all of you should work fearlessly in a direction to wipe out the slur of drugs from the state," he said.
Mann asked the police officers to arrest those who are actually selling drugs not the addicts as they persons have already become victims of the drug mafia. With this initiative, ultimately the backbone of the supply chain would be broken and Punjab would soon become a drug-free state, said Mann, adding this could not be accomplished without the wholehearted support of the police force. The chief minister said his government will strive hard to run drug de-addiction centres across the state efficaciously while ensuring there is no shortage of medicines.
Appreciating the Punjab Police for valiantly combating the black phase of terrorism across the state, Mann hoped, "It will now set an example by completely vanishing the drug terror, which has ruined the lives of our youth." He asked police officers to be vigilant while tackling the drug menace with heavy hand and should be aware who, where and what kind of drugs are being sold within their jurisdiction.
PTI
