Prepared to ensure peaceful polls: DGP

Pulwama, Mar 11: Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Ranjan Swain Monday affirmed the readiness of the Jammu and Kashmir Police to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of the upcoming parliamentary polls.

“We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment to the electorate to cast their votes,” the Police chief told reports after inaugurating a police post in Rohmoo village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

The DGP said that the exhaustive investigations had conclusively established a connection between narcotics and terrorism.

“Earlier, even within the security establishment, some officers harboured doubt regarding the link between narcotics and terrorism. However, investigation after investigation has proven this link, leaving no room for doubt,” he said.

Swain said that it had been found in the investigations that the drug consignments were sent by the terrorist outfits operating from across the border.

“It is beyond doubt that the coordinator and handlers of terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al-Badar, Jaish-e-Muhammad, and even Hizbul Mujahideen are the suppliers of narcotics,” he said.

The DGP said that there was no doubt that the prices of narcotics were lower upon their entry into Kashmir, but they surged as they made their way to Delhi.

“Upon their arrival, narcotics are sold at Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per kg, but the prices go up to Rs 1 crore as they reach Delhi,” he said.

Underlining the role of the people in fighting the menace of drugs, the DGP said that no war could be won without the active cooperation of the people.

“It is impossible to win any war without the cooperation of the people and no Police officer should harbour any doubt about it,” Swain said. “And what the people need is an honest and upright law enforcement agency, which we are.”

The DGP said that the Police had formulated a two-pronged strategy to fight the menace.

He said, first, that they had drawn a line between the drug addicts and those profiting from the drug trade.

“We have begun the district-wise process of separating the addicts from the peddlers who have amassed fortunes and invested their ill-gotten money in different businesses,” the DGP said.

He said that the Police had begun to attach their properties.

“Police in Samba played a crucial role in this regard and I hope that the Police officers in other districts follow a similar model,” Swain said. “The second part of our strategy will be to apprehend the drug peddlers and send them to jail.”

The DGP said that they would seek capital punishment for the habitual and repeated offenders.

“To brush up the knowledge of the legal niceties, the repeated offenders under the NDPS warrant the capital punishment at one stage,” he said. “Even if individuals from the security, Police, or civil establishment are found involved in the drug trade, they too will be dealt with firmly.”