Newspaper supply disrupted in Punjab: Police claim intel input, Opposition alleges attack on press freedom

Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla told The Indian Express, “I also did not know earlier what was going on. There has been some clarity now. I am told there was an intelligence input that some vehicles may have drugs and ammunition. That is why they were checked. Now, the vehicles were released. Some others may be in the process.”

Reports from Pathankot said the vehicles were stopped early in the morning. “There was panic as I got a call early in the morning that newspapers were not allowed. We enquired what was going on. We were told that a massive checking operation was on,” a circulation manager of a newspaper said.

Ravinder Puri, a newspaper supplier in Mandi Ahmedgarh, said the police detained drivers. They were not allowed to contact their family members. “We had this panic early in the morning. We received calls from the families of the drivers, stating that they were unreachable. This sent us all in a tizzy. Then we called up newspaper suppliers in other parts of the state. There were similar reports.”

“Then we learned that there was a problem. Finally, we got in touch with local police officers who said that there was a massive check on these vehicles due to reports that some were acting as couriers of drugs and ammunition.”

Newspaper supply in Mohali, being a part of the Tricity, was not affected. “There were reports from Banur and Patiala that the trucks were stopped there and drivers detained,” said a supplier.

In Ludhiana, the hawkers have gathered at Clock Tower chowk and the newspapers have been unloaded there.

The Opposition has alleged an attack on press freedom in Punjab. AICC secretary Pargat Singh, in a post on X, claimed that the Bhagwant Mann government reportedly conducted raids and blocked newspaper distribution across the state to prevent news about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal staying at Punjab’s official House No. 50 from reaching the public.

Pargat further alleged that looting Punjab’s treasury for Delhi’s lobby was already no secret, but now even newspapers were being stopped to hide the truth.

“This is not administration, this is a silent emergency being imposed in Punjab. Punjab will not tolerate it,” he wrote.

Punjab Police cite smuggling of contrabands

A Punjab Police spokesperson said the vehicle checks were conducted under the supervision of gazetted officers at selected places to conduct streamlined and orderly vehicle checking without causing any inconvenience to the general public.

The spokesperson further stated that Punjab, the sensitive border state, has been facing the brunt of the designs of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to bleed India by waging a proxy war, through smuggling of contraband, arms and explosives from across the international border using rogue drones and further transporting these contrabands through various types of vehicles.

Anti-national forces have been innovative in changing their modus operandi and their activities have increased in intensity and efforts after Operation Sindoor, the spokesperson added.

Punjab Police will exercise due diligence and care to ensure that minimum inconvenience is caused to the general public during the conduct of security checks, especially during vehicular checks. At the same time, the need for an active and energetic internal security grid in Punjab cannot be overemphasised in the present internal security scenario, the spokesperon added.