Chandigarh, 23 May

As part of the ongoing ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ campaign to eradicate the menace of drugs from Punjab, police have arrested 101 drug smugglers and seized 15.9 kg of heroin, 102 kg of poppy husk and drug money worth Rs 25.52 lakh from their possession, officials said on Friday.

The arrests and seizures were made on the 82nd day of the anti-drug campaign on Thursday, police said, taking the total number of drug smugglers arrested to 12,650 since the launch of the drive.

The operation was conducted simultaneously in all the 28 police districts of the state on the direction of DGP Gaurav Yadav.

According to Special DGP (law and order) Arpit Shukla, more than 200 police teams comprising 1,300 police personnel conducted the raids at 460 locations across the state on Thursday, leading to the registration of 79 FIRs.

Police also checked 497 suspicious persons during the day-long operation, he said.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked the commissioners of police, deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police to make Punjab a drug-free state.

The Punjab government has also constituted a five-member Cabinet sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the crackdown against drugs.