The North News
Chandigarh, December 27
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said on Saturday that the state was “turning the tide” against drugs and organised crime, citing large-scale arrests, rising conviction rates and intensified action against gang networks. Reviewing the performance of the Punjab Police, Mann said sustained enforcement, tighter investigations and what he described as zero political interference were producing measurable results after years of entrenched narcotics trafficking.
According to figures shared by the chief minister, 85,418 drug smugglers have been arrested over the past three-and-a-half years, while courts have recorded an overall conviction rate of about 88% under narcotics laws in 2025. Since January 1 this year, police have also apprehended 916 alleged gangsters.
Mann said that since his government took office, more than 63,000 cases had been registered against drug traffickers. He added that since the launch of the state’s anti-drugs campaign, Yudh Nashian Virudh, on March 1, 2025, police had registered over 30,000 fresh cases and arrested more than 40,000 suspects. The drive, he said, had helped check the flow of drugs “to a considerable extent”.
He said the strategy was built around enforcement, de-addiction and prevention. As part of the crackdown, police have seized more than five tonnes of heroin, over three tonnes of opium, along with cocaine, synthetic drugs and millions of capsules. Authorities have also recovered what they described as drug proceeds running into hundreds of crores of rupees.
The Chief Minister said financial investigations had become a key deterrent, with more than 1,400 proposals to freeze illegally acquired properties confirmed. Assets worth over ₹2,700 crore were frozen between 2022 and 2025, he said, adding that this had weakened the economic backbone of narcotics networks.
Mann also highlighted the use of technology and public participation. A state-run WhatsApp chatbot for tips, he said, had generated nearly 30,000 actionable inputs, leading to thousands of police cases and arrests. He added that Punjab had strengthened its response to drone-based smuggling, reporting a sharp rise in interceptions in 2025.
On organised crime, the chief minister said police had dismantled hundreds of gang modules this year, recovering firearms and other weapons. He said the sustained campaign reflected a shift from political rhetoric to results on the ground in Punjab’s long-running battle against drugs.
