In a letter from the office of Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Punjab, orders were issued to the Deputy Commissioners to confiscate all property of drug dealers and those accused and convicted under Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The letter specified that the police should aim to financially bankrupt the accused. The letter also instructed the DCs to immediately notify the police officers of any property attached to the accused.
“The state government wants to confiscate the properties of drug dealers and make them financially bankrupt. You are therefore ordered that whenever any accused/convict under the NDPS Act’s property is attached/forfeit by any Commissioner of Police/SSP/Police Officer, if information is sought, that information should be given by you immediately to the concerned police officer” read the letter from the office of the Chief Secretary.
This decision is part of Bhagwant Mann’s multi-pronged strategy to crack down on the nexus between drug peddlers and a section of the police force. State police had seized a lot of cash and drugs in the run up to the elections and got several vital clues regarding its supply. In an earlier interaction with the press, CM Mann had said that if anyone on the force is found involved in smuggling of drugs, the police personnel would be dismissed from service within a week and the cop's property would be confiscated. CM Mann had also announced the hiring of 10,000 addition police officers to strengthen the force.
