Punjab Drug story : only recovery of Heroin increased , others dropped

Heroin is recovered by BSF mainly.
pb govt claims the BSF not doing enough falls flat

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 26
The passing year is being labelled as the year of state’s fight against drugs. The matter gained prominence with Opposition parties taking on the government on its alleged failure to contain the menace.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had made it part of his election campaign and had recently tagged Punjab as the worst-hit state.

Official statistics, however, reveal a contrasting picture. The state registered lesser number of FIRs and arrested lesser number of people in drug-related cases as compared to the last year.

The state witnessed a seizure of 570 kg of heroin worth Rs 3,000 crore against 416 kg last year. But most of the contraband was seized by the Border Security Force. Other drugs such as opium, smack, charas, cocaine and poppy husk seized by the state police were in lesser quantity as compared to last year. A police officer remarked such figures did not matter in their fight against drugs. “We had launched a massive crackdown this year, but we were never lenient earlier also. It has become a political issue. We are always after the anti-social elements.”

The officer argued that there was lesser number of drug cases due to the continuous drive against the menace the previous years.

Last year, the number of NDPS cases was 14,654, at least 68 per cent higher as compared to 2006 (as per the National Crime Records Bureau). The police registered 13,975 FIRs till December 16 this year. Similarly, 16,821 persons were arrested in NDPS cases in 2013 against 16,421 this year.

The police managed to avoid controversies like slapping a woman and her father and killing of an ASI by a man stalking his daughter, but drew flak for the alleged cold-blooded murder of two brothers by an Akali leader in connivance with policemen in Machhiwara. An SSP was suspended and several policemen were booked in the case. The police managed to arrest a group of terrorists from Malaysia and Thailand. Those arrested were linked to Sikh militants Neeta and others who are presently hiding in Pakistan. The police recovered arms and ammunition from canals and ponds in Jagraon. The incident was a reminder of the dark days of terrorism.

The acquittal of all accused in the seven-year-old Shingar Cinema blast case put the police in a spot. They will have to scurry for answers on justice to the families of those died in the blast. There was a slight increase in the cases of attacks on policemen. At least 460 such cases were registered as compared to 452 last year and 427 in 2012.

Police officials complained of politicisation of the department with the formation of a new seat of power, halqa in charge. It is alleged that station house officers have been told to report to the respective halqa in charge.

The year also saw the involvement of a group of senior police officers led by an Inspector General of Police in shady land deals. The accused allegedly invested black money in a project and later used force to recover the money. Incidents of snatching remained a major worry. There were 1,260 snatching cases against 1,051 last year. The figure is conservative as it is estimated that only one out of five victims of snatching lodges an FIR.