Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu released the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1988 here late Tuesday evening. As a large number of offenders in narcotics cases are acquitted due to the non-compliance of mandatory provisions and prescribed provisions, the SOP will assist and serve as a guide to police officers and officials in dealing with cases of drug trafficking and achieve the desired objectives effectively as they will offer a detailed process and procedure from initiating to executing detention orders and confiscating unlawfully acquired assets.
The Chief Minister said that illicit drugs have posed a threat and a sense of insecurity in society and undermine the faith of the common man in law enforcement agencies. To generate faith in the administration of justice, the government has accorded top priority to combat this menace in an efficient and effective manner. To bolster the efforts, a specialized force dedicated to prevent drug-related crimes and an advisory board has been established to provide guidance, he said.
The drug trafficker’s activities have a detrimental impact on the national economy and these illicit operations are carried out in a highly organized manner and there is a large scale of clandestine drug trafficking. Consequently, the effective prevention of such activities demands the provision of detention for those involved, he said.
Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bharat Khera and Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu, Secretary Home Dr. Abhishek Jain, ADGPs Satwant Atwal and Abhishek Trivedi were also present on the occasion amongst others.
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