Punjab, narcotics bureau to conduct raids jointly

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Punjab government on Wednesday decided to conduct joint operations and share information on drugs by pooling in resources to effectively tackle the menace in the state.

The decision was taken during a meeting between NCB Director General Abhay and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

The former had called on the Chief Minister during a visit to Chandigarh, and the two shared their concerns and strategies on the drugs issue.

The NCB chief extended full support of the agency in training and capacity building for Punjab Police to effectively carry out investigations of cases under the NDPS.

They also discussed joint training of prosecutors and police and judicial officers to achieve higher conviction rates in drugs cases.

Lauding the steps taken by the Punjab government to tackle the legacy problem of drugs in the state, Abhay said the state's fight against narcotics was incomparable.

No other state had undertaken the campaign against drugs, which had become deeply rooted in Punjab over a span of a decade, on such a war footing, said Abhay.

The two discussed ways of formulating a strong and impactful proposal on preventive detention for repeat offenders, which the Chief Minister had mooted earlier in the day during a meeting of the Consultative Group on Drugs, followed by a video conference with SPs and DCs.

They also discussed steps to make strong cases for forfeiture of property of drug smugglers.

( With inputs from IANS )