Testing over, Punjab to soon deploy anti-drone system along Pak border

Amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav on Monday said testing of the anti-drone system had been completed and the technology would soon be installed along the second line of defence in the state.

Addressing the media, Yadav said the anti-drone systems would be deployed in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Border Security Force (BSF). “We have started preparations and by September, we will counter drones bringing drugs and weapons from Pakistan. We have held several meetings with the MHA and the BSF,” he said.

The DGP has called a review meeting of all Commissioners of Police and SSPs on Tuesday where the police officers will present their plan to eradicate drugs from their respective districts by May 31.

Explaining the May 31 deadline (announced in a statement on Sunday) to make Punjab drugs-free, the DGP clarified that the timeframe signified cutting off all supply chains by that date. “The state will be drug-free in a way that no drugs will be available on the streets…. No specific targets, such as arrests or drug recoveries, have been given to district police heads,” he said.

Yadav said they would conduct a field survey after May 31 with the help of Intelligence units. “We will reward district heads who achieve drug-free status while those failing in their job will be held accountable. But this is not a figure-based target review system,” he said.

The police chief also said that as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, cases would not be registered against addicts or peddlers found possessing small quantity of drugs. “They will instead be sent to rehabilitation centres to help overcome addiction,” he explained.

The DGP said for the first time, 31 big fish hawala operators had been arrested in recent months. These operators were dealing with drug money and over Rs 8 crores was recovered from them. He said the government had also approved the transfer of prisoners, including drug smugglers and hawala operators, to jails in other states to break their network.

Yadav also commended the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), headed by Special DGP Kuldip Singh, for achieving an impressive 89 per cent conviction rate in NDPS cases. Kuldip and ANTF ADGP Nilabh Kishore accompanied the DGP at the press conference.

He said 836 NDPS cases had been decided across the state since March 1 and 744 of these resulted in convictions. “In these cases, 144 drug kingpins were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years or more,” he said.

On the “rising number of encounters in Punjab”, the DGP said there was zero tolerance towards attacks on the police. “The force will respond in self-defence. Sixtytwo drug smugglers or gangsters have been injured in retaliatory firing by police teams since March 1,” said Yadav.

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