Punjab Assembly Elections: Police using drones, conducting combing operations to keep vigil on illegal activities

Punjab Assembly Elections: Police using drones, conducting combing operations to keep vigil on illegal activities

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, CHANDIGARH, January 17:
To ensure fair, transparent, and inducement-free Assembly Elections in the state, Punjab Police have further intensified search operations especially in Border districts and along the International Border to keep a vigil on illegal activities in doubtful/vulnerable areas. The operations are being assisted by BSF Coys, PAP, CID Units, Special Branch, Excise & Taxation Department, and Dog Squad & Anti Sabotage Teams. Giving details, Chief Director Vigilance Bureau-cum-State Police Nodal Officer (SPNO) Ishwar Singh said that apart from conducting conventional combing and search operations, Punjab Police has been using technology-driven Policing by deploying Drones to conduct aerial surveys to cover inaccessible areas of Mand along Beas and Sutlej rivers. He said that during the search operations special attention is being paid to isolated areas, unpaved roads (Pagdandi), tube-wells, freshly dug-out areas, freshly cleared areas inside fields, Deras/Gujjar outside villages. Pertinently, DGP Punjab along with SPNO on Saturday held a high-level meeting with the CPs/SSPs of the State, Police of adjoining states, and Intelligence Agencies to prevent the inflow of drugs in the state. During the meeting, the DGP had given clear instructions to all the CPs/SSPs in the states to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs and bootlegging ahead of elections. SPNO Ishwar Singh said that the meeting has galvanized all the force and the synergy is already visible in terms of recovery of illicit liquor and drugs in the state. He said that teams of Joint Task Forces have been constituted in each district and raids are being conducted on a routine basis to ensure that no illegal activity shall take place during the elections. On Monday only, the Amritsar Rural Police have managed to recover 1100 Kgs of illicit liquor, while Batala Police have recovered 620Kgs of illicit liquor during raids, he added.