Need to create database to keep a check on drug peddlers,says NCB

“The problem of drug abuse is very serious in Punjab and we are looking at ways to solve the problem. We want to reduce the demand and control the supply,” said Malik.

Over a dozen senior officers of different states,who participated in the meeting,including representatives of enforcement agencies of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,decided to strengthen information sharing in the region by developing a database of operatives of the illegal drug trade.

“Mostly what happens is that a person,who is wanted by an enforcement agency in a case of illegal drug trade,is a resident of some other state or place and hence he gets away due to lack of information sharing. Therefore,we have decided to improve and strengthen the system of information sharing so that such operatives can be brought to book,” DGP Malik said.

Speaking about the worsening scenario in the state,the DG said,“Punjab has a critical location since it is surrounded by states like Himachal Pradesh,J&K and Rajasthan on the one side and the International Border with Pakistan on the other. Punjab itself is not a state where cultivation of the contraband is done,but cultivation takes places in HP and J&K,from where opium and cannabis trafficked,and Rajasthan from where poppy husk is smuggled.”

He added smuggling of the drugs through some porous points along the border with Pakistan makes Punjab more vulnerable.

Enumerating the points on demand reduction in the wake of youngsters falling prey to drug abuse,the DG said it was concluded in the meeting that it could be made possible by educating children about harmful effects of drug abuse at the school level. “We are going to talk to Central as well state boards to introduce chapters to sensitise schoolchildren,” he added.

Commenting on the involvement of two zonal directors,NCB Chandigarh,in different cases,Malik said the officers had brought bad name to the institution. “But we should have trust in the system since it was the system after all which caught those officers. We are now looking forward to better days and more internals checks are in place,” he said.

Inspector General of Police,Punjab,R P Meena added more than 100 police personnel were caught in the state for such crimes.

In order to increase the staff in the NCB,50 regular intelligence officers were being hired through direct recruitment of the Staff Selection Commission,the DG said.