‘Fight against drug menace uphill task’: Dinkar Gupta, DGP, Punjab

On International Day against Drug Abuse and Illegal Trafficking, DGP Dinkar Gupta told The Tribune correspondent Sanjeev Singh Bariana that the fight against drugs is an uphill task in the wake of border fencing losing its significance to new methods of drug delivery, easy bail and operations being controlled from jails. Excerpts:

The killing of drug dealer Brij Lal and his family’s involvement in the trade shows the menace has woven into the fabric of people’s life. What’s your take?

Drug trade has been running in the families of a number of dealers. All family members of Brij Lal were involved in liquor and drug smuggling for decades. There were 49 cases registered against them. His wife, who was lodged in Amritsar jail, died this year. His two sons are admitted to a de-addiction centre in Tarn Taran.

The CM has given us a free hand in controlling illegal liquor menace. In case anything concrete comes against suspects, they will not be spared

The name of former DSP Jagdish Bhola indicated involvement of an international syndicate in drug smuggling. But why no arrest of any big fish so far?

We arrested Ranjeet Singh, alias Cheeta, in May who was one of the key links in the drug smuggling network. The police in February seized a truck smuggling heroin from Gujarat to Amritsar at the instance of kingpin Simranjit Singh Sandhu, who was arrested in Italy by Interpol. A major narco-terrorism module was busted in January involving 75 kg heroin from Pakistan. The kingpin was Rahul Chauhan, an Army Naik posted in Bareilly. The police made a record seizure of 504 kg heroin this year.

What steps are being taken to check drug menace during Covid pandemic?

Reduced availability of drugs in villages and towns had led to approximately 1.3 lakh drug users joining the de-addiction programme. As per a Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment survey, the state has 12 lakh drug addicts. Only 5.41 lakh among them are enrolled for regular treatment. The remaining 6.59 lakh and 30 per cent of those who have dropped out of de-addiction centres continue to be potential buyers.

Raids were conducted in various parts of the state some time ago. Why were they stopped?

Cordon and Search Operations were carried out based on inputs on illegal activity from the public and the police. The drive witnessed a decent response. It will be started once things get better.

Illicit liquor has been an age-old reality in the state. However, now we have cases of liquor being sold under costly brand names. What is your take?

Liquor is a part of lifestyle of people in the state and buying expensive one is just a way of showing the boisterous side of their personality. People are willing to spend money in the name of show-off. However, the liquor being poured into bottles is illicit.