Cops persuading peddlers, families to shun illicit trade
To keep a close watch on miscreants during the ensuing panchayat elections and festival season, the police conducted a search operation as part of the state-wide cordon and search operation (CASO) on Wednesday.
DIG (Intelligence-1, Mohali) Sukhwant Singh Gill monitored the progress of the operation, which was conducted under the supervision of Malerkotla SSP Gagan Ajit Singh.
Police teams, led by DSPs, cordoned off specified hotspot localities at Bhumsi in Malerkotla subdivision, Khanpur in Ahmedgarh and Bagrian in Amargarh circle before commencing an intensive door-to-door search to rule out the presence of drugs/narcotics or drug money belonging to listed drug peddlers.
Senior functionaries also interacted with family members of notorious drug peddlers in a bid to persuade them to shun the illicit trade of drug peddling.
Expressing satisfaction over the success of the action, the DIG said, “Some persons, including an elderly woman at Bagrian, vowed to shun the illicit trade that their families had been involved in for decades.”
Gill said persistent efforts made by the police personnel, led by SSP Gagan Ajit Singh, had yielded desired results in breaking the supply chain of drugs in localities, known as hotspots for the illicit drugs trade.
The SSP said simultaneous search operation in alleged hotspots for drugs and crime had gone a long way in instilling confidence among rural populace during the panchayat election, besides being a deterrent against drug peddlers and anti-social elements.
“Although we have already tightened noose around anti-social elements, we conducted an intensive search operation after cordoning off localities inhabited by suspected drug peddlers, criminal and accused booked under the NDPS Act,” said Gagan Ajit Singh.
