Chandigarh, Mar 4 (PTI) The Punjab Police on Tuesday inspected 164 pharmacies to ensure that they were adhering to the prescribed norms regarding the sale of medicines and not selling intoxicant tablets or any other habit-forming drugs.

The simultaneous inspections in Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Jalandhar Rural, Jalandhar Commissionerate, Kapurthala and Rupnagar district was part of the state government's anti-drugs drive and conducted on the directions of Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

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Police teams also continued cordon and search operations against drugs and conducted raids at 524 locations, leading to the arrest of 69 smugglers after the registration of 53 FIRs.

The number of total drugs smugglers arrested has reached 472 in four days.

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The raids resulted in the recovery of 1.5 kilogrammes of heroin, 100 grams of opium, 7,610 intoxicant tablets or injections and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash from the arrested smugglers.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann last week set a three-month deadline to make the state drugs-free. The state government has also constituted a five-member Cabinet sub-committee to monitor the action against drugs.

Special Director General of Police Arpit Shukla said more than 250 teams comprising over 1,900 personnel conducted raids and checked 627 suspicious persons during the daylong drive.

The Punjab Police has devised a comprehensive strategy and such operations will continue till the scourge of drugs is eradicated, he said.

In a related development, the Ludhiana Police and rail authorities demolished unauthorised structures built on encroached Indian Railways land in Talwandi Kalan village.

The structures were illegally occupied by two smugglers facing multiple cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaskiranjeet Singh Teja said one of the accused, Rani, was a notorious smuggler facing five NDPS Act cases, while Shinder Pal alias Nikka was implicated in nine.

Police personnel, along with rail officials, ensured that the demolition was carried out smoothly, with sufficient forces deployed to prevent disturbances, he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Balbir Singh held a meeting with the managers of private drug de-addiction centres in Fatehgarh Sahib district at the government rehabilitation centre in Brahman Majra.

He issued a stern warning to drugs smugglers, saying they should either give up trafficking or leave Punjab.

In the campaign to create a drugs-free society, the accountability of private drug de-addiction centres will be fixed and it will be necessary for their managers to furnish reports on how many addicts have been rehabilitated, he said.

Issuing strict instructions to the managers, the minister said these centres were running for drug de-addiction, not to sell narcotic pills.

Singh said he would personally monitor the centres' functioning.

Strict action will be taken against the manager concerned if any sale of narcotic pills outside private de-addiction centres comes to his notice, the minister warned.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)