Jaipur, July 21 (IANS) The Rajasthan Police’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has achieved a major milestone in its ongoing campaign against drug trafficking, arresting 80 wanted drug smugglers in the past nine months. The operation was carried out under the guidance of Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Kumar Sharma and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Dinesh MN as part of the ANTF’s special enforcement drive, ANTF Strike: Crossing the Diamond Jubilee.
According to ANTF Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vikas Kumar, the arrested smugglers were carrying a combined reward of Rs 21.28 lakh that had been announced by the police. To dismantle an extensive interstate drug trafficking network, the ANTF carried out coordinated operations across eight states, including Rajasthan.
Using technical surveillance, intelligence gathering and field operations, police tracked and arrested notorious smugglers who had been hiding across the country.
Among those arrested were 64 residents of Rajasthan, 10 from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Gujarat and Punjab, one from Haryana, and others traced to Kerala, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Police said many of the accused were operating from outside Rajasthan while supplying narcotics to the state and other parts of the country.
The ANTF also arrested four major drug kingpins listed among Rajasthan’s ‘Top-25’ most wanted smugglers. Of the 80 accused, 65 carried rewards of Rs 25,000 or more, including two with rewards exceeding Rs 1 lakh and nine with rewards exceeding Rs 50,000. Police said 16 of the arrested smugglers had been absconding for between five and 10 years, continuing their illegal operations while evading arrest.
To track down elusive fugitives, ANTF personnel adopted a range of disguises during undercover operations. Officers posed as shepherds to arrest a suspect hiding near a cowshed, hospital compounders to monitor the movements of an accused receiving medical treatment, and, where required, disguised themselves as census workers, electricity linemen, labourers, contractors and tenants to gather intelligence and verify the whereabouts of suspects. Acting on precise intelligence, the teams arrested the accused before they could evade capture.
The operation was executed by five specialised ANTF teams – Delta, Victor, Samson, Rudra and Randy. To maintain operational secrecy, officers used internal code names such as ‘Neelmani,’ ‘Vishanubahu,’ ‘Madmarjar’ and ‘Khar-Dushan’ during the course of the mission.
IGP Vikas Kumar said that with the arrest of these 80 wanted smugglers, the ANTF will now intensify efforts to dismantle the criminal networks, financial assets and operational infrastructure of the remaining drug traffickers listed under the ‘NARCO-25’ initiative.
The Rajasthan Police has appealed to citizens to support its mission of building a “Drug-Free Rajasthan.” Members of the public with information related to drug trafficking or other narcotics-related crimes can contact the ANTF Control Room by telephone at 0141-2502877 or via WhatsApp at 9261225056. Police assured that the identity of informants will be kept strictly confidential.
–IANS
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