Large recoveries and mass arrests follow coordinated cordon-and-search operations
Amritsar’s law-and-order agencies carried out intensive anti-narcotics activity over two days, recovering a total of 12 kg of heroin and 4.2 kg of opium while arresting 170 persons in multiple drug-related and other criminal cases, officials said on Saturday.
The operations were launched as part of the state-level “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign. Teams from the Amritsar commissionerate and Amritsar rural police conducted coordinated cordon-and-search operations (CASO) that targeted both urban localities and rural pockets across the district.
“Fourteen police parties were deployed for the operation,” said Commissioner of Police Harmanbir Singh Gill.
The largest urban action took place in the Maqboolpura area of the commissionerate, where officers registered 25 cases and arrested 29 people. That CASO yielded 7 kg of heroin, 4.2 kg of opium, a .30-bore pistol and a mobile phone, the police statement said.
Simultaneously, Amritsar rural police executed a two-day statewide operation across all six sub-divisions of the rural district. The rural campaign resulted in the registration of 41 FIRs under the NDPS Act and 46 arrests specifically in NDPS cases. Recoveries included 5 kg of heroin, four illegal pistols and 950 litres of illicit liquor. A total of 95 persons were taken into custody during the rural action when counts for those arrested in peddling, supply or smuggling-related offences were combined with other criminal cases.
In aggregate, the commissionerate and rural operations led to the seizure of 12 kg heroin and 4.2 kg opium, and the arrest of 170 individuals, police reported. The authorities said several of those detained were accused of direct involvement in the distribution and smuggling of narcotics, while others were held in connection with ancillary criminal offences.
- Urban CASO (Maqboolpura): 7 kg heroin, 4.2 kg opium, .30-bore pistol; 29 arrests; 25 cases registered.
- Rural operations: 5 kg heroin, four illegal pistols, 950 litres illicit liquor; 95 arrests; 41 FIRs under NDPS Act.
- Total: 12 kg heroin, 4.2 kg opium; 170 arrests across both operations.
| Item | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Heroin | 12 kg |
| Opium | 4.2 kg |
| Illegal pistols | At least 5 |
| Illicit liquor | 950 litres |
| Persons arrested | 170 |
The scale of the recoveries and the simultaneous deployment in urban and rural sectors underline continuing concerns about organised drug supply chains affecting Amritsar district. Law-enforcement officials have increasingly focused on disrupting traffickers who use both city neighbourhoods and agricultural hinterlands as transit and distribution routes.
Punjab has grappled with drug abuse and trafficking for years, and recent state-level drives have sought to combine intelligence-led operations with visible local CASOs. In Amritsar, police said the two-pronged approach—intense action in high-risk urban localities such as Maqboolpura coupled with systematic sweeps across rural sub-divisions—aimed to recover consignments at points of storage and transit as well as to arrest those engaged in street-level supply.
Officials did not provide further details on the identities of those arrested or whether any high-value suspects linked to interstate or cross-border trafficking were among the detainees. The recovery of a .30-bore pistol in the Maqboolpura action and multiple illegal weapons in rural seizures highlights the linkages between narcotics offences and illegal arms possession in some cases, police noted in the statement.
Investigations into the registered FIRs and NDPS cases are continuing. Seized contraband and weapons have been sent for forensic examination, while legal procedures for remand and further probe are underway, according to the police release.
Local residents and community leaders in Amritsar welcomed the seizures but said sustained action and follow-through prosecutions are necessary to deter traffickers. Farmers and rural residents, who have expressed concern about illicit markets encroaching into villages, urged continued coordination between intelligence units and ground police to dismantle networks rather than only conducting episodic raids.
As the probe advances, authorities will need to present chargesheets with clear links to supply chains to ensure convictions and reduce recidivism, legal observers say. For now, police officials have emphasised the district-level results as part of the broader state campaign against narcotics trafficking.
