Six Panjab Districts ‘Ultrasensitive’ Drug Zones, Supply Now From Other States

September

2026

Zonal Director, Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh, Amanjit Singh, and Additional Director General (Media), Ministry of Home Affairs, Raj Kumar, said that out of the 73 such districts in India, the union government has classified six districts in Panjab as 'ultrasensitive' drug zones. Five such districts—Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, and Fazilka—lie on the India-Pakistan International Border, and the sixth is Ludhiana, the state's industrial hub. Meanwhile, Panjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav has said since 1 Mar 2025, when Panjab launched Yudh Nashian Virudh (War Against Drugs), the police have registered 60,582 First Information Reports under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, and have arrested 79,784 drug smugglers, including 708 involved in 354 commercial-scale cases. Yadav added, 'The Anti-Narcotics Task Force has elevated the conviction rate to 89%, setting a benchmark across India. As many as 13,430 NDPS cases have been decided, with convictions secured in 11,981 of them.' A Panjab police spokesperson said the pattern of drug smuggling in Panjab is changing as the availability of chitta (opioid, street heroin) has declined sharply. In contrast, pharmaceutical drugs are increasingly being smuggled into the state from other states. Around 80% of pharmaceutical narcotics available in Panjab come from Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi and present the latest challenge to the state police. Since 2025, 1.1M pharmaceutical tablets or capsules have been recovered from consignments from these states. In effect, Panjab's drug war is entering a new phase: the government says the Pakistan-border supply of heroin is being choked, but pharmaceutical drugs from neighboring states are now emerging as the next major front. Concurrently, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) started a 13-day Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra (Drug Free Panjab Campaign) on 18 Sep. Before the campaign, Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused the BJP-led union government of 'defaming' Panjab over drug abuse and asked it to check drug supplies in Gujarat instead. A sideshow of the campaign was when, on 18 Sep, BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu alleged that Panjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party workers threw eggs on his cavalcade in Batala, Gurdaspur district. On 19 Sep, Bittu waved a liquor bottle at CM Mann’s cavalcade at the gates of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (earlier coverage).