'Can Take On Gangs, Grenade... What About Idle Youths?': Punjab Police Despair In Border Areas, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was shot dead in Noushehra Pannuan village, Tarn Taran district, allegedly due to gang rivalry.
• A 35-year-old man died of suspected drug overdose in Mansa, leading to protests and highlighting Punjab's ongoing drug crisis.
• Punjab recorded 6,060 cases of drug possession for trafficking in 2024, the highest in India, and 106 drug overdose deaths, second only to Tamil Nadu.
• The issue of drug abuse is a central theme in the upcoming Assembly elections, with opposition parties criticizing the ruling AAP government.
• Drone-based smuggling of heroin and arms has surged, with over 200 drone droppings recorded in 2025, primarily in the Amritsar-Tarn Taran-Ferozepur-Gurdaspur belt.

Detailed Insights:

• Opium and poppy husk were historically prevalent and socially accepted in pre-Independence Punjab, with the Royal Commission on Opium in 1894 noting minimal consumption by the general Indian populace.
• Punjab's 553-km border with Pakistan makes it vulnerable to drug smuggling, particularly from the Golden Crescent region (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran), a major global heroin processing hub.
• The drug trade is highly profitable, with a gram of heroin (chitta) fetching up to Rs 5,000, and a single drug mule run earning a lakh, attracting unemployed youth.
• A nexus between traffickers, police, and politicians, exemplified by the 2013 arrest of DSP Jagdish Singh Bhola, contributes to the persistence of the trade.
• Arrests of women under the NDPS Act in Punjab rose by 85% in 2022 compared to 2015, as women are often used as carriers due to lower frisking likelihood or to fund their own addiction.
• Abuse of pharmaceutical drugs has increased, with Punjab accounting for 2.94 crore out of 5.13 crore units seized nationwide in 2024, largely sourced from neighboring states.
• In 2021, the Centre extended the Border Security Force's (BSF) jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km inland in border states like Punjab to counter advanced smuggling methods like drones.
• The Punjab government has adopted an EDP (Enforcement, De-addiction, and Prevention) approach since 2014, with the AAP government launching "Yudh. Nasha Heyan Virudh" in March 2025, which includes community participation and financial disruption of traffickers.
• Critics argue that the EDP approach should prioritize prevention and rehabilitation over enforcement.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Golden Crescent: A major illicit opium-producing region comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, significantly impacting India's western border security.
• Narco-terrorism: The nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism, where drug proceeds finance terrorist activities, posing a significant national security threat.
• NDPS Act (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985): India's principal law regulating narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, prohibiting unauthorized production, possession, sale, and trafficking.
• EDP Approach: A strategy for combating drug abuse focusing on three pillars: Enforcement against traffickers, De-addiction for users, and Prevention through awareness and education.