Bhagwant Mann flags off bicycle rally in Sangrur against drug menace

|HT|

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday flagged off a bicycle rally in Sangrur district of the state as part of campaign against drug menace.

“Bicycle rally against drugs in Sangrur on slogan ‘Fight Against Drugs, Play And Read’ in every house in Punjab. More than 15,000 youth joined the rally ... it gives us courage. Your government will not stop till drugs are eradicated,” the chief minister tweeted in Punjabi.

Eradication of drugs has been a key agenda in Punjab politics. During the 2022 elections, Mann had promised that his government would give a free hand to the state police to crack down on the drug mafia in the state, if voted to power. He also underscored the need to develop indigenous anti-drone technology to check the supply of drugs and weapons through drones effectively from across the border. On May 10, Mann while chairing a meeting of the anti-drug task force directed the Punjab Police to crack down on those involved in selling drugs and take action against the politicians interfering in the anti-drug campaign. He had asked the cops to arrest those who are actually selling drugs and not the addicts as those people had already become victims of the drug mafia.

The punitive action on drug mafia in Punjab has been a talking point, with the Supreme Court observing that only 13 per cent of the total number of accused get arrested in the state while a majority manage to abscond. “This is a most serious matter. Steps will have to be taken urgently. More than 225 accused have been absconding for a long time and they have been declared proclaimed offenders. You will need to arrest them," the top court had told the AAP government on March 29.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)