Mann cracks whip against drugs
Over 10K police personnel shifted; cops found involved in drug cases to be immediately dismissed
Under Opposition’s severe attack over alleged deaths from drug abuse in the past two weeks in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced several tough steps to wipe out what he termed as the “curse’’ of drugs in the state.
The Mann-led ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had recently come under severe attack from the opposition parties, namely, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP, after about 14 deaths allegedly due to drug abuse were reported in about two weeks’ time in the state.
Briefing newspersons after holding a meeting with top police officers here, Bhagwant Mann said that the state government has chalked out a multi-pronged strategy to wipe out this curse from the state.
He said that the state police had caught a lot of cash and drugs during the run-up to the polls and got several other vital clues regarding the supply of drugs. He said that drugs come to Punjab from outside, but the state was being vilified on this issue. The government has evidence from where those came and what were their destination, he added.
Mann, however, also said that it had also come to light that cops at lower level were sometimes involved with drug peddlers, resulting in a strong nexus between them.
The chief minister said that more than 10,000 transfers had been made so far across the divisions, adding that rotation of the postings of the cops was going on to break this nexus. He said that the black sheep in the police department were being identified and strict action would be taken against them.