New Delhi, July 13
The Punjab Police has been at the forefront of countering drug menace in the state and Fazilka police, a border police force in Punjab has put their heart into an initiative that not only counters drug menace but has become a textbook for police on active policing.
Of the 553 km long Punjab border with Pakistan, 108 km is in Fazilka district. There are several villages in this district that are completely cut off from outside world.
'Mission Nischay', a brainchild of SSP Fazilka, Dr. Pragya Jain has become a promising project in Punjab to counter drug abuse.
Speaking about the initiative, SSP Fazilka Pragya Jain said, "The project is built upon three fundamental pillars: Enforcement, Actionable Intelligence, and Community Engagement. Working alongside Border Security Forces and Village Defense Committees, the police aim to combat the drug menace by engaging with residents of villages along international borders, gathering intelligence on the supply and demand of illicit substances, and taking comprehensive action against major offenders".
The initiative brings an environment of a sense of belief and faith among people of border area. To instill a sense of confidence amongst the inhabitants of hotspot inaccessible areas by visible police and bring a sense of belief and faith among people of border area.
SSP Pragya Jain added, "We have earmarked border village at the zero line Informal interactions with small gatherings at village common places to reduce the gap between. The DSPs daily visit the border villages and have informal interactions with small gatherings at village common places to reduce the gap between police and the public thereby generating actionable. There is a multi agency co-ordination and active sharing of inputs leading to synergistic action".
She added, “These border villages are not connected with the outside world where youth often become the targets for illicit drug trafficking. This is not just an initiative but a mission to uproot drugs from these villages and reinforce sense of security and peace in the citizens”.
The border villages in Punjab regularly witness the menace of drones carrying contraband and illegally trying to enter the Indian borders. The Border Security Force and Punjab Police have been working together to shoot down and or seize these drones. The border villages become easy targets for drug traffickers in Pakistan to sneak in contraband in Indian territories and presently multi agencies- Punjab Police, BSF and also NIA have been working on various narco terrorism syndicates to nib the bud of big fishes.
The Fazilka police arrested 145 drug peddlers and 114 other accused have been arrested in the last 15 days during the massive anti-drug campaign.
Similarly, a total of 1093 accused have been arrested in the past 3 and half month, out of which 247 drug peddlers and 846 other accused wanted in heinous crime and other crimes. The Fazilka police seized 187 kilograms of drug worth Rs. 26.60 lakhs of drug money.
Accused arrested from June 16 to July 2
Drug Peddlers 145
Excise Act 12
Gambling Act 10
Other crime 92
Total 259
Accused arrested from March to July
Drug Peddlers 247
Excise Act 85
Gambling Act 58
Other crime 703
Total 1093
