Capt orders transfer of cops hand in glove with peddlers
Wednesday, 17/05/2017
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CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered shunting out of police officials suspected of connivance with drug peddlers and smugglers to far-flung areas.
The CM also constituted an inter-departmental committee for intensified and coordinated efforts to eradicate the drug menace. The decisions were taken during a high-level meeting to review the progress of the special task force (STF) in curbing the drug problem in the state, an official spokesperson said.
The CM also asked the chief secretary to take up with the director general of police (DGP) the issue of strict surveillance of the staff posted in the police stations of border districts in order to break the nexus between the Border Security Force (BSF) and state police officials with drug smugglers, and check smuggling of drugs from across the border.
Amarinder lauded the efforts of the STF in controlling the drug menace but underlined the need for a more coordinated approach to tackle the problem.
Making a detailed presentation to the chief minister, STF chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu said the illegal business of drugs could not thrive without the connivance of certain mid-level police personnel deployed on plum border postings for the past several years.
He called for immediate steps to shift such cops to far-flung areas to break their nexus with drug smugglers and traders.
Sidhu also called for shifting out health department officials found conniving with drug smugglers and peddlers. Taking a serious note of Sidhu’s observations, the CM directed the chief secretary to take up the issue with the DGP to get the errant police personnel transferred without any delay. He said complacency on this count would affect the government’s efforts to rid Punjab of drugs.
