Lowering drug demand a challenge: Punjab DGP
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 31
In a major New Year bonanza for the police personnel, Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta has announced a weekly off and an eight-hour shift for them, saying it will be implemented soon. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, the DGP says reduction in demand for drugs remains a big challenge even as more than 40,000 persons have been arrested for drug smuggling in the past three years.
In your first year in office, what challenges do you see the state faces on the law and order front?
The year saw big events related to the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations and the opening of the Kartarpur corridor. These posed major security challenges. The past 11 months have been a huge learning experience. We were able to prevent many incidents, but we surely have a lot of ground to cover. Being a border state, Punjab faces challenges like influx of terrorists, smuggling of drugs and weapons and more recently, the use of drones by agencies across the border for anti-India activities.
Is the police force equipped to intercept drones?
The use of Punjab border for weapon smuggling started immediately after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August. The primary duty to intercept drones is of the BSF, Air Force and the Army, but the state police have been on high alert too.
There were fears that the corridor might pose a security issue and could be misused by pro-Khalistan activists. Has any specific threat come to light?
The corridor had been the dream of Punjabis for decades. We are happy that it is a reality now, although there are some security concerns. On an average, 1,200 visitors are crossing the border every day. We had certain inputs about some suspicious activity, but no specific case has come to light. We have to remain vigilant since there have been increased efforts to radicalise the youth in Punjab.
How many terror modules have been busted by the police? What kind of people are being radicalised?
Since March 2017, we have busted 51 modules and arrested over 150 members. About 55-60 per cent were radicalised via online campaign and the average age was 18-30.
Was it for money or ideology?
Clearly, there was exchange of sufficient amount of money. Most of the arrested persons were poor, but some were provoked over other reasons too.
The issue of gangs and gangsters has cropped up again by the end of the year.
The gangster cult had grown in the last 10-12 years. The problem became acute by 2016-17. There were some sensational killings and many were roaming free, cocking a snook at the police. We launched a concerted campaign and arrested or neutralised 2,322 gangsters since March 2017. Only less than half a dozen gangsters are yet to be dealt with. Prominent among them are Jaipal, Harvinder Singh alias Rinda and Harry Chatha. We have information that some may have fled abroad. We have also seized 1,318 weapons and nearly 600 vehicles.
Gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria is in news for alleged links with a minister and for issuing threats to Bikram Singh Majithia.
We are looking into the allegations. A probe is on by an SIT headed by DGP (Intelligence) VK Bhawra. So far there is no evidence of his alleged political links. There is no political pressure on the police. The force is free to act against any illegality.
Akalis allege no FIR has been registered over threats to Majithia and police hastily gave clean chit to the minister. Your take?
We are carrying out a fair probe. Let the inquiry be completed. We have shared findings of the preliminary probe. We are questioning a suspect in Bathinda for issuing threats to the former Akali minister.
What is the status on the state’s fight against drugs?
Since March 2017, we have registered 32,500 cases of drug smuggling and arrested 40,455 accused. We have done a fairly good job on the supply reduction front. But the sad part is that nearly 80 per cent of the accused get bail within a few weeks of their arrest. We want amendments to the NDPS Act to reduce minimum commercial quantity of intoxicants to 50-100 gm from 250 gm so that the offenders do not get bail easily.
Will putting drug addicts or small-time peddlers in jail solve the problem?
No, but something needs to be done for cutting the demand. We need to start a fresh drug awareness campaign. It has to be widespread and robust.
The CM had promised an eight-hour shift for cops and a weekly off. It is yet to happen.
We have worked on the proposal. It is going to be implemented in January itself. The CM is going to announce it after the ‘Bara Khana’ with the force. It was delayed because we needed to rationalise staff deployment so that the state’s security is not compromised in any way. We launched a ‘back to the streets’ scheme and found that nearly 7,000 personnel can be deployed with the police districts from their current non-operational assignment. The eight-hour work shift and weekly off would be a huge relief for those posted in police stations or with the traffic police wing.
