Officers from other states involved in drug smuggling: Punjab FM Harpal Cheema

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday alleged that the arrest of an inspector of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in connection with cross-border drug trafficking “exposes the involvement of law-enforcement officers from other states” in the illegal trade in Punjab.

Cheema, who is also the chairman of a Cabinet sub-committee constituted to monitor the state government’s campaign against the menace, made the statement a day after the Amritsar police arrested a Central agency officer along with seven others.

Over 4 kg of heroin was seized from their possession.

The accused DRI inspector belongs to Haryana’s Rohtak.

Addressing a press conference here at Punjab Bhawan, Cheema said an in-depth investigation would be conducted to identify the head of the accused gang and it would be followed by strict legal action, regardless of their position.

The Finance Minister said the Punjab Government was fulfilling its responsibility to curb drug trafficking from across the border, but the Union government “seemed to be failing in its duty”.

Sharing updates of the state government’s campaign, the Finance Minister said the police had registered 3,279 cases under the NDPS Act since the launch of the drive on March 1. As many as 5,537 people had been arrested in the past 41 days, he added.

Cheema said the police had seized 212 kg of heroin, 6,945 kg of poppy husk, 105 kg of opium, 50 kg of ganja, 6 kg of charas and nearly 9 lakh banned tablets and capsules under the drive so far.

Additionally, Rs 6 crore had been seized and illegal properties of 57 drug smugglers had been demolished to teach them a befitting lesson, he told reporters.

Punjab