*J&K LG, CS, DGP to attend; discuss strategy
Steps to be taken to counter narcotics’ smuggling
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 29: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta and Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh will be attending a conference on security and drug trafficking in Chandigarh tomorrow which will be inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Chandigarh Administrator and Chief Secretaries and DGPs of these States and UTs.
While security situation is well under control in Jammu and Kashmir including the militancy-infested Valley with annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji progressing smoothly and no major incident reported for past quite some days, it will be reviewed in the meeting along with that of Punjab.
The Lieutenant Governor will also address the conference and is likely to give detailed view point on security scenario of Jammu and Kashmir where large number of top militants including their commanders have been eliminated or arrested while some others have surrendered. A number of hybrid militants have also been nabbed by the security forces.
Apart from security scenario, the drug trafficking is also expected to come under review at the meeting. There have been reports that Pakistan was smuggling narcotics to Jammu and Kashmir and pumping money generated through it into the militancy.
Though Jammu and Kashmir Police has been able to seize narcotics consignments to a large extent including those smuggled from Pakistan, there were reports that some consignments managed to reach Punjab. Besides, one of the seizures made recently here had come from neighbouring Punjab State which has long International Boundary with Pakistan.
A presentation on the occasion will also be given by the Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on the drug scenario in the northern region.
After the conference, Shah will meet with the Chief Ministers, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator, the J&K Lt Governor, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), sources said.
The Central Government, as per the sources, was concerned about smuggling of narcotics from Pakistan along with consignments of arms, ammunition and explosives through drones and other means in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Punjab. However, most of such consignments smuggled in Jammu and Kashmir have been seized by security personnel and police causing major setbacks to Pakistan and the militants.
The meeting could discuss and initiate steps to take effective measures to counter menace of drug trafficking by Pakistan.
In the evening, Shah will attend a function at Mauli Jagran and inaugurate three Government school buildings.
Later, after a dinner at the Punjab Raj Bhawan, he will attend ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ and ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ events at Sukhna Lake before returning to New Delhi.
Besides Shah, the three-hour-long national conference will be addressed by Punjab Governor-cum Chandigarh UT Administrator, Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, the sources said.
During this visit, the Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the multi-level parking adjoining the District Courts Complex in Sector 43, Chandigarh, they added.
The Saturday visit is the Home Minister’s second visit to Chandigarh within the past four months.
On his previous visit to Chandigarh on March 27, Shah had inaugurated as well as laid the foundation stones of several projects.
The projects that were inaugurated then included the Integrated Command and Control Centre, a new office building for Chandigarh Housing Board, two Government schools and an urban park.
He had also laid the foundation stones of a college hostel block and a bus depot-cum-workshop, along with inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for a slew of projects of the Chandigarh Police.
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