Daijiworld Media Network - Chandigarh

Chandigarh, Sep 15: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday accused the opposition of portraying Punjab as a state plagued by drugs and lawlessness while ignoring the wider drug-smuggling network across the country, ahead of the BJP's 'Nasha Mukt Yatra' scheduled to begin on September 18.

The BJP's campaign is expected to make drug abuse and law and order major issues ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.

Mann said his government had adopted a comprehensive strategy to tackle drugs, gangsters and organised crime and accused the opposition of indulging in "vulture politics" instead of presenting a vision for Punjab.

He said 10 gangsters had been brought back to Punjab from abroad since January and claimed that nearly 80 per cent of drugs being smuggled from Pakistan had been eliminated following the government's crackdown.

"When you have no issue, you start feeding on every unfortunate incident. This is not politics of public service, this is vulture politics. Punjab deserves better than this cheap politics," Mann said.

He said the government's campaign was not limited to arrests but focused on identifying criminal networks, intercepting consignments, blocking financial channels and bringing those involved to justice.

Mann also questioned the BJP over drug seizures in states ruled by the party, saying drugs were being smuggled into Punjab across its 532-km border with Pakistan.

He alleged that large consignments were being seized in BJP-ruled states while the Centre continued to focus on Punjab.

"Punjab Police has recovered a huge consignment of such drugs from Mundra Port, which is in the native state of the Union Home Minister. The Union Home Minister is not able to check drugs in his own state and is planning to undertake an anti-drug yatra in Punjab," he said.

Mann claimed that around 3,000 kg of drugs had been seized at Mundra Port in Gujarat and alleged that no meaningful action had been taken against those responsible.

He also accused previous governments of providing political patronage to gangsters and said opposition parties had no moral authority to question the current government's crackdown.

"The people of Punjab have not forgotten the black days when gangsters enjoyed political patronage and criminals were allowed to operate with impunity," Mann said.

He cautioned political parties against misleading people through yatras and selective narratives, saying Punjabis could distinguish between those who had fought against drugs and gangsters and those who had allegedly provided political shelter to criminals.

Mann urged the opposition to cooperate with the government instead of indulging in what he termed "politics of opportunism".

He also accused the Union government of failing to tackle the gangster problem at the national level and alleged that Punjab gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had been given shelter in a Gujarat jail and was not being allowed to be brought to Punjab.

Meanwhile, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the state police had registered 60,582 FIRs and arrested 79,784 alleged drug smugglers since the launch of the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' anti-drug campaign.

According to Yadav, the arrests included 708 major accused in 354 commercial-scale drug cases.

He said drug recoveries during the period included 3,803 kg of heroin, 976 kg of opium, 46 tonnes of poppy husk, 1,325 kg of ganja and 78 lakh intoxicant capsules and tablets.

Yadav claimed that Punjab accounts for approximately 60 per cent of India's total heroin recoveries.

Properties worth Rs 366 crore have been frozen in 914 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, while 102 hawala operators have been arrested and Rs 11 crore in hawala funds recovered, he said.

Yadav further said Punjab was the first state to deploy the Artificial Intelligence-driven Punjab Artificial Intelligence System (PAIS), under which 4.60 crore searches had been conducted, leading to the arrest of four lakh accused.

The Counter Intelligence wing has also recovered assault rifles, pistols, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), RDX, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and other explosives, he said.

Punjab Police also intercepted 952 drones out of 1,493 sightings as part of efforts to prevent cross-border smuggling, Yadav added.