FIGHTING DRUGS

The growing drug menace in the northern state for the first time had made police chiefs to sit and ponder for setting up a common secretariat for sharing real-time intelligence about drug smugglers and other hard-core criminals to cut narco-supply chains and curb crimes. The decision was taken in a police coordination committee meet, hosted by Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta and attended by senior officers of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, New Delhi and Chandigarh police in Chandigarh. Surprisingly J&K was not there. There is no denial of the fact that the Jammu and Kashmir has been the gateway for the large quantity and high-value narcotics smuggled in from Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was evident from the cross-border trade outlets opened in Poonch where large quantity of high value narcotics were seized few years back forcing the authorities to call off the trade. The step was wrought with political connotation by some of the Kashmir-centric leaders. It is not that Punjab borders are sterilized that no cross-border smuggling takes place. Recently only a truck carrying rock salt from Pakistan had Rs 2700 cr worth narcotics hidden in it which was seized at Attari border check post in Amritsar. So one can imagine the urgency for calling such a meeting. The meeting also proposed quarterly joint meetings of northern states’ police chiefs on rotation basis and bi-monthly meetings of police officers heading Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS), Special Operations Groups (SOG), Special Task Forces (STF) and Special Cells in their states for sharing vital information on drug lords and gangsters. It was also decided to develop a common IT-based platform for member states for quick sharing of information among them for a better coordination and result in drives against drug lords and gangsters, the statement said. All police chiefs agreed to Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava’s proposal to have a common police secretariat for sharing information on inter-state crimes and criminals, especially on drug traffickers and gangsters. It was also proposed that the police forces of the neighbouring states should consistently share intelligence and launch coordinated operations to cut drug supply chains. The meeting also called for biometric identification that be made mandatory for obtaining mobile phone connections and for opening bank accounts. Chandigarh DGP Sanjay Beniwal advocated for the adoption of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by the northern states to
effectively deal with gangsters and hardcore criminals.