LG Manoj Sinha’s war against drugs: Big question mark on police as the sensitive border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have become an epicentre of drug terrorism; Lack of intelligence, poor coordination between police officials led to the mushrooming of this illicit trade in the R-P range

LG Manoj Sinha’s war against drugs: Big question mark on police as the sensitive border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have become an epicentre of drug terrorism; Lack of intelligence, poor coordination between police officials led to the mushrooming of this illicit trade in the R-P range

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: Despite an aggressive attitude adopted by LG Manoj Sinha during his hundred-day war against drug terrorism in the entire J&K, which concluded a few weeks ago, in which many police ranges have shown unprecedented results, the sensitive border range of Poonch-Rajouri has a reason to worry, as the police have not shown any promising results, although occasional achievements have been recorded by the seizing of properties of drug peddlers in addition to the registration of FIRs, but a lot is needed to be done. Due to a shortage of manpower and lack of intelligence gathering by the Poonch and Rajouri police, the drug peddlers are still active and have been running their trade in a shrewd manner by dodging everybody.

Through the Mughal Road route, various drug peddlers reportedly pass through easily without any check from the police, and these drug peddlers managed to launch their operations in Surankote and Mendhar tehsils. The same Mughal road, which is a hotbed of bovine smuggling with the involvement of some police officials, the drug peddlers even, reportedly use the vehicles in which bovine are transported illegally with the full shelter of police, as it is an impossible task for police to check every vehicle, but the shrewd police officials love to earn their bread and butter from the bovine trade, least bothering about checking each and every vehicle. Moreover, a few PSOs of some important police chairs were used to visit the spot timely and used to collect their share without the knowledge of those police officials who were posted on the said route on a regular basis. Taking full benefits of this big loophole, the drug peddlers never faced any resistance in carrying out their operations. There are also reports that some people associated with private commercial vehicles that drive daily on various routes are involved in this trade by illegally transporting drugs to different locations without being detected by police. Reports also say that some silent drug peddlers have strong foundations in the fourth estate, and they also use their links with the security establishments in noiselessly carrying out the trade from different locations. In various streets of the Poonch town also, small drug peddlers are also seen carrying out their operations without any hindrance, and it raises a big question mark for the police. In many areas of Rajouri district also, the drug peddlers have their active chain, and they also perform their task silently, but it’s shocking that the police have failed to ensure a complete crackdown on this trade in the sensitive Rajouri-Poonch police range. One more factor that plays a positive role for the police in the Rajouri-Poonch range is that a large chunk of people from the media field love to have good relations with the police establishments for their personal interest, and in return, some police officials were also seen giving them their indirect support of various kinds with the sole agenda of not figuring in any news item on account of failure, and this bonhomie also works in favour of the drug peddlers because the government and the top J&K police brass think that everything is fine on the ground, but the reality is dangerous. It is pertinent to mention here that police in the same Rajouri-Poonch range remained under a big question mark during the last few years on account of corruption in backdoor SPO recruitment, misusing of power against innocents, poor performance in exposing drug networks, media persons and some civil society people using their links with police officers to settle their hidden interests, ignoring inputs from intelligence agencies, failure in detecting OGW terror networks after the Bhatadurian and Dhangri-type terrorist attacks and poor achievement during some operations in Rajouri district in which a concrete bunker of terrorists was also detected. Likewise, many attempts were made by the anti-national forces to destabilise the Poonch district by pasting sensitive posters directing the minority community to leave the area. As far as investigating the Shri Dashnami Akhara blast, the Surankote temple blast, anti-minority activities, the pasting of posters directing the minority communities to leave the area and the loss of revenue record of Poonch city under a big conspiracy, no output has yet been shown by the police, and it also raised a big question mark on important chairs of Poonch police that were also accused of partiality in targeting lower-rung employees of other ideologies in an important police office by throwing out and by bringing officials from other districts to occupy important chairs. The complete failure of the police in the Rajouri-Poonch range in countering terrorism and drugs has shown that over the years, the government failed to post some professional and brilliant police officers from district to range level in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, as it was a cause of big concern. A few officers remained involved in earning from the drug mafia and bovine smuggling through bypass tactics, as who knows how many OGWs or terrorists have taken advantage of passing through the Mughal Road area by taking shelter in vehicles used for bovine smuggling? How many OGWs and drug peddlers are still active by visiting several areas of Poonch and Rajouri through the DKG or other routes, as the lack of police personnel and poor coordination among top chairs give a free hand to drug peddlers and anti-national forces to operate? Although the initiative of LG Manoj Sinha against drugs was highly commendable and it should continue for more years, the question arises how many police officers implemented the LG’s directions totally on the ground with a strong performance and how many of them failed on the ground in showing a promising output. Mere issuing press releases once in a blue moon against drug terrorism will not solve the problem unless all-out efforts are initiated to book every single drug peddler, big or small, as the sensitive Poonch-Rajouri police range has become an epicentre of drug terrorism. Moreover, after the Dhangri and Bhatadurian-type terrorist attacks, the police in the Rajouri-Poonch range have not detected a number of OWGs who work for the terrorist outfits. A former intelligence chief after the Bhatadurian incident categorically stated that more than thousands of OGWs were active in the Rajouri-Poonch belt, and what worried him was that they all were working in a silent mode with the help of locals, and it gave intelligence agencies a tough time detecting their activities. During the hundred-day drive, the LG Manoj Sinha also directed the J&K police to expose all drug peddlers by bringing their names and photos to the public domain to inform the people who are the real players of the drug terrorism that has caused extensive damage to the youth, in addition to generating money to fuel terrorism in J&K. LG’s intention against drug terrorism was clear, but it was the responsibility of the J&K police and the intelligence agencies to implement the vision of LG on the ground in a hard and professional manner to eradicate the menace of drugs from the soil of J&K in the interest of youths of J&K who are the future of the country, but the poor results in the Rajouri-Poonch range are a cause of concern for all, and this might be the reason that the LG administration has shaken up the system of police in the Poonch and Rajouri districts, hoping for a sound output on all fronts. It is important to mention here that due to the high-level nexus of some civil society members, tainted people (sources) in the media field and some civil and police officers, the highly sensitive Poonch district failed to witness professional and strong policing, and this also paved the way for anti-nationals to raise their heads on several occasions. Moreover, a number of self-styled civil society members, unprofessional media persons, some NGOs, and self-proclaimed sports and social activists are also seen forming good relations with police and civil administration with the intention of getting a district award, UT award, or DG Medal despite having questionable credentials. This unhealthy relation also remained a topic of discussion among various public gatherings that Poonch police officers are photo experts only, and when it comes to showing their performance on terrorism and drug fronts, they have nothing major to show. However, the LG J&K UT initiative against drug terrorism was a remarkable action, but the concerned need to measure the performance of police officers also, and those who have failed in proving their professionalism against drug terrorism and other forms of terrorism must not be given prestigious postings because it’s an issue of internal security and public safety. Those associated with anti-national activities, drug terrorism and other forms of terrorism need no mercy, but it depends on the professionalism, proper coordination among police officers and strong action on the reports generated by the intelligence agencies to take on each and every soldier of drug terrorism and other forms of terrorism in a harsh manner. After the BG 1 and BG 2 terrorists attack, the district has not seen professional and strong policing on all fronts of internal security, but the policing remained in the news on account of bovine smuggling, poor performance on terror and drugs fronts and crooked activities during the posting of SPOs through backdoor means. The recent jewellers shop episode has also demolished the reputation of the Poonch police. It’s high time for the Poonch police to solve all the pending cases on terror fronts, various blast cases, the loss of revenue record of Poonch city, keep under check the silent operations of anti-national elements, and other issues of internal security concerns. The police officers posted in the Poonch-Rajouri range need to raise the reputation of the J&K police in the eyes of the common man and need not be seen capturing by sycophants in the civil society, media, NGOs, social activists and others known for their self-interests only, because the R-P range has already witnessed various disasters due to the failure of police and the civil administration and deserves better output on internal security fronts.