Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Police Department to initiate a massive crackdown to dismantle the drug network in the State in a mission mode for the next six months. While presiding over a high level meeting of senior officers of Police and other departments here today, the Chief Minister instructed to take stringent action against the drug peddlers and categorically stated that no one involved in the drug trade will be spared.
Taking a firm stand against the drug traffickers, Shri Sukhu also ordered strict action against the government employees found involved in such illegal activities. He said, "Government employees against whom concrete evidences of drug smuggling has been found will be terminated from the service."
Sh. Sukhu emphasized on implementing the PIT-NDPS Act in letter and spirit to ensure stern action against the drug peddlers. He asked the officers, "Why is there delay in processing the PIT-NDPS cases. Review all the cases within one week and dispose of them." He said that the present State Government has adopted zero tolerance policy against drug menace.
He said that the properties of the drug peddlers and their associates must be attached and directed the Police Department to investigate the bank accounts of the suspects. He said that Anti Narcotics Task Force would be strengthened and additionally, a Special Task Force would also be notified to combat the drug menace headed by a senior police officer.
Reiterating his commitment to secure the future of the youth and eradicating the drug abuse from the State, the Chief Minister said that he will personally monitor the anti-drug campaign on a regular basis. He also instructed the Police Department to conduct mapping of drug peddlers and victims upto the panchayat level and submit the report by 15th March, 2025.
He said that Panchayat representatives and Nambardars would also be roped in to combat this menace. He asked the senior Police Officers to ensure stern action against the police officers who are reluctant to register cases in drug trafficking. He further directed the police officers to take all the NDPS cases to its logical end and conduct a vigorous forward and backward linkage of the cases to uproot the entire drug network.
The Chief Minister said that the state Government would make efforts to establish Special Courts to fast track the NDPS cases and provisions of Parole strictly. He said that the State Government would introduce HP Anti Drug Act in the upcoming budget session of Vidhan Sabha which will clearly differentiate between the victims and drug peddlers.
He said that the State Government is also establishing a state-of-art rehabilitation centre for the victims in Kotla Behar of Sirmaur district. Sh. Sukhu also directed to enhance the vigilance in Pharma Companies and said that the licenses would be cancelled for those companies who are found involved in illegal sale of psychotropic drugs.
He said that FIR would be registered against such companies and renewal of the licenses would not be allowed. He also stressed for launching of a massive awareness campaign against drug abuses in the State so that people could be aware about the ill effects of drugs.
Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Additional Chief Secretaries K.K. Pant and Onkar Chand Sharma, Director General of Police Dr. Atul Verma, Director General (CID) S.R. Ojha, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Secretaries Ashish Singhmar and Rajesh Sharma, Commissioner State Taxes and Excise Dr.Yunus and other senior officers also attended the meeting.