‘Drug trade: 47 Punjab cops sacked, 17 suspended in 3 yrs’

In order to unearth nexus between police department employees and drug trafficking, the special task force (STF) and district police in Punjab have registered 114 criminal cases against 148 police personnel and initiated departmental inquiries against 61 from April 2017 to April 30, 2020.

Stating this, special task force chief-cum-additional director general of police (ADGP) Harpreet Singh Sidhu said 47 police personnel had also been dismissed and another 17 suspended so far. The police also forfeited properties worth Rs 18.46 crore in 37 proposals in 2017, Rs 11.37 crore in 37 proposals in 2018, Rs 37.69 crore in 50 proposals in 2019 and another Rs 1.68 crore in 11 proposals up to March 21, 2020, he added in a statement. Apart from this, 58 cases are pending with competent authority for confirmation of property worth approximately Rs 20.5 crore.

Sidhu said that since the inception of STF in April 2017, law enforcement agencies had recovered 1,376 kilogram heroin, 1,515 kg opium, 1,24,728 kg poppy husk, 6,053 kg ganja and 2,74,33119 pills/capsules besides large amount of drug money. The recovery of 464 Kg of heroin in 2019 was the highest in the last five years, he added.