DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to district police chiefs to bring the availability of drugs on streets to zero by May 31, or accountability of all officers down to SHO-level will be fixed. The director general of police, along with Special DGP (Internal Security) RN Dhoke, Additional DGP (Anti Narcotics Task Force) Nilabh Kishore and ADGP (Law and Order) Naresh Arora, was chairing a high-level meeting to make a "foolproof" action plan to wipe out drugs from the state.

All range inspectors general of police (IGPs), DIGs, commissioners of police (CPs), and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) attended the meeting. The development comes after the DGP on Monday set an ambitious target to end the drug menace by May 31 and directed all senior officers to firm up plans to cut narcotic supply lines effectively.

After the Tuesday's meeting, Yadav said several important decisions were taken during the meeting including fixing the accountability of officers.

"Every officer including CPs, SSPs, DSPs and SHOs will be held responsible and accountable in their own respective areas for failing to wipe out drugs from streets," the DGP said in a statement.

Post May 31, performance of all the officers will be assessed with the help of professional parameters, intelligence and feedback from public, he said. "After the survey, officers who did good work will be rewarded, while punishments will be given to the officers found deficient." The DGP, however, clarified that the focus of the police is not a figure-based target, but to completely break the supply chains to make drugs unavailable across the state.

"CPs/SSPs have already been directed to trace forward and backward linkages of the cases being registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and take the cases to logical conclusion by exposing complete networks," he added.

The three-hour-long meeting took place in two parts -- the review of district wise performance including number of FIRs, achievements and gaps were discussed with the respective range IGPs/DIGs and CPs/SSPs in first part, while in second part, field officers were asked to present their plan to eradicate drugs from their respective districts by May 31.

(editor@dailyworld.in)