Chandigarh, December 26:
The crime rate in Punjab has witnessed a sharp decline under the able administration of Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann-led state government and the supervision of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav.
According to the official crime data of the state vis-a-vis its comparison with the figures from the previous year, the number of murders this year has reduced from 723 in 2021 to 654 in 2022 whereas kidnappings have decreased from 1787 in 2021 to 1645 in 2022.
Similarly, theft-related cases have also been reduced from 8417 in 2021 to 8407 in 2022 and cases related to the Excise Act have decreased from 10745 in 2021 to 9104 in 2022. The data also shows a significant decline in the total number of first information reports (FIRs) registered in the state from 73581 in 2021 to 71827 in 2022.
Recounting the achievements, Inspector General of Police (IG) Sukhchain Singh Gill on Monday said that during 2022, the Internal Security has busted 18 terror modules with the arrest of 119 terrorist/radicals after recovering 43 Rifles, 220 Revolvers/Pistols, 13 Tiffin Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs), 24.5Kg RDX and other explosives, 37 Hand Grenades, two Sleeves of disposed Rocket Launcher, 22 Drones, and 23 vehicles.
He said, similarly, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), since its formation on April 6, 2022, has succeeded in busting 111 gangster/criminal modules after arresting 428 gangsters/criminals and neutralizing two, after recovering 411 weapons, 97 vehicles used in criminal activities, 44.21 KGs heroin and Rs 1.30 crores money. Pertinently, immediately after coming to power, the CM Bhagwant Mann-led state government formed a special Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) headed by ADGP Promod Ban to wipe out gangsters from the state.
The IGP said that from January 1 to December 20, 2022, five major incidents have taken place in Punjab including an IED blast at Police Post Kalwa, PS Noorpur Bedi, Ropar; RPG attack at Intelligence Headquarters building at Mohali; Murder of Punjabi Singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala; Killing of Bargari sacrilege accused Pardeep Kumar and RPG attack at PS Sarhali, Tarn Taran. Punjab Police have effectively solved all these major crimes, he added.
IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill, who has been holding weekly press conferences to update people on drug recovery, said that Punjab Government is committed to making Punjab a drug-free state and extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State.
Giving yearly updates on drugs, the IGP said that from January 1 to December 25, 2022, Punjab Police have arrested 16798 drug smugglers/suppliers, including 2316 big fish after registering 12171 first information reports (FIRs), including 1374 commercials.
He said that the Police teams have recovered 582-Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. Additionally, 147.5-Kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 729.5 kg in a year, he added.
Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said that the Police have also recovered 690-Kg opium, 1396-Kg Ganja, 518 quintals of poppy husk, and 60.13 lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 11.59 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested this year.
He said that under the ongoing special drive to arrest Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases, Punjab Police have arrested 955 POs/Absconders since January 1, 2022.
IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill said that after coming to power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also increased the ex-gratia amount to Rs 1 crores to be given to the families of Police Personnel in case of death in the line of duty. Recently, two cheques of Rs 2 crores (Rs 1 crore each) were handed over to the family of slain Punjab Police Constable Mandeep Singh, who attained martyrdom in the line of duty. The Rs 2 crore amount includes Rs 1 crore as ex-gratia by the state government, whereas, another payment of insurance cover worth Rs 1 crore was to be made by the HDFC bank.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has also enhanced the budget allocation for Police Welfare from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore.
