CHANDIGARH, September 14: Punjab Police has registered 60,582 FIRs and arrested 79,784 drug smugglers, including 708 major operators involved in 354 commercial-scale cases, since the launch of the state’s flagship ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ anti-drugs campaign, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference alongside Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, DGP Yadav outlined the major achievements of the Punjab Police between March 1, 2025 and September 10, 2026, besides detailing the Counter Intelligence wing’s action against terror networks.
According to the DGP, Punjab Police recovered a record 3,803 kg of heroin, 976 kg of opium, 46 tonnes of poppy husk, 1,325 kg of ganja and 78 lakh intoxicant capsules and tablets during the period. Punjab accounts for approximately 60% of India’s total heroin recovery, he said.
Emphasising the role of scientific and professional investigation, Yadav said the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) had helped raise Punjab’s NDPS conviction rate to 89%, described as a benchmark across India. Since March 1, 2025, courts have decided 13,430 NDPS cases, resulting in 11,981 convictions.
The ANTF’s investigative model has also received national recognition, with ADGP ANTF Nilabh Kishore recently addressing IPS officers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad on combating drug trafficking and improving conviction rates through professional investigation.
Punjab Police has also targeted the financial networks supporting the illicit drug trade. Properties worth ₹366 crore were frozen in 914 cases approved under Section 68-F of the NDPS Act, while 102 hawala operatives were arrested and ₹11 crore in hawala funds recovered, Yadav said.
Technology and public participation have also been incorporated into the crackdown. Punjab was the first state to deploy the Artificial Intelligence-driven Punjab Artificial Intelligence System (PAIS), which carried out 4.60 crore searches and contributed to the arrest of 4 lakh accused, according to the DGP.
Under the Chief Minister’s reward policy, ₹3.33 crore has been distributed among 2,362 civilians and police personnel for actionable intelligence and drone-interception recoveries.
Giving details of the Counter Intelligence wing’s operations between March 16, 2022 and September 11, 2026, Yadav said it had busted 92 terror modules and arrested 686 terrorists.
The wing recovered 54 rifles, including AK, MP-9, MP-5 and .315 variants, 599 revolvers and pistols, 38 Tiffin IEDs/IEDs, 28.887 kg of RDX and other explosives, 131 hand grenades and six RPGs with launchers, along with three sleeves.
The Counter Intelligence wing also intercepted 952 drones out of 1,493 sightings, underlining the scale of the security challenge along the border.
Yadav said 43 terror attacks had been reported since September 2024 and all the cases had been solved in record time. Nine other claims of attacks were found to be hoaxes or entirely fabricated.
The DGP further said the Counter Intelligence wing had pre-emptively neutralised 53 terror modules, helping avert major terror attacks in the state.
