Chandigarh:

Punjab Police will get vehicles capable of high speeds as part of its new initiative of setting up a team dedicated towards road safety and effectively chasing criminals, officials said on Monday.

Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill said 144 vehicles — 116 Isuzus and 28 Mahindra Scorpios — will be purchased, adding that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had given directions that the police vehicles should be such which can effectively chase criminals.

Addressing the media, Gill said the ‘Sadak Surakhya Force’ will be set up to prevent crime and road accidents. The state government has earmarked a sum of Rs 39.50 crore for it, he said.

Additional Director General of Police A S Rai has been appointed as the nodal officer of the force. The force will be equipped with modern equipment including body cameras, GPS fitted vehicles, breath analyzers, he said. There will be a special uniform of the force, he added.

Speaking on the police’s action on drug smuggling in the past year, Gill said that 14,952 drug smugglers, including 2,132 big smugglers, have been arrested since July 5, last year. Police has registered 11,147 First Information Reports (FIRs) in this regard, he said.

Gill said police has also recovered 987.75 kilograms of heroin from carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas across the state.

Additionally, 147.5 kg of heroin was recovered from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 1,135.25 kg in 11 months, he said.

Apart from heroin, the IGP said police also recovered 731 kg opium, 840.76 kg ganja, 350.40 quintals of poppy husk, and 62.49 lakh tablets, capsules, injections, vials of pharma opioids from across the state, Gill said.

Rs 11.83 crores of cash has also been recovered from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in these 11 months, the officer said.

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