The 'chitta' 'dirty' traders who slip from the border of Punjab and reach Rajasthan, the youth of the heroic nation get trapped.

As soon as the name Punjab comes to mind, delicious food, vibrant music and its rich heritage come to mind, while, like a dream, one faces a grim reality. The name of this reality is… Chitta. The same chitta…licks the youth of Punjab like a cockroach. Lakhs of the youth of the state have become addicted to this white poison which is readily available today. Using modern technology, drug smugglers from neighboring countries are flying death packets across the Indian border, these packets are turning into puris and getting into the veins of the state's youth, rendering them helpless. Not only in Punjab, but also in another state like Punjab, youths are on the path of drug addiction. In fact, along with Punjab, Rajasthan shares many borders with Pakistan. A few months ago, when the BSF increased surveillance along the Punjab border, drug smugglers moved towards the Rajasthan border. Pakistani smugglers use drones to fly drugs into Indian territory in the dead of night. Before undertaking this work, the boundaries are thoroughly surveyed. When and at what time do BSF soldiers patrol? At what time, in which corner is there no or less awareness. Indian drug smugglers are helping them in all this…they conduct BSF operations for days and give information to Pakistani smugglers and then this dirty work is done by drones. How do drugs reach India despite strict surveillance? BSF personnel on the border are keeping a close eye on the nefarious activities of the neighboring country every second, but the question now arises that drugs are easily reaching here. Why can't our forces control this? There are many reasons behind this. The first and biggest reason is shortage of BSF personnel on the border. This is because BSF soldiers are engaged in civil service. Experts say BSF personnel are deployed in security arrangements during elections, floods or major religious pilgrimages like Amarnath, due to which there is a shortage of personnel at the borders. According to a report published in Times of India, earlier one jawan was patrolling every 500-600 meters, now one jawan is responsible for 1 to 1.5 kilometers. During this entire patrolling, the drug traffickers can easily smuggle the youth from where they are not. It will be very easy for them. Many times, there is the faint whine of a drone amidst the silence, then it is shot and fired. On June 15, while patrolling Sriganganagar border, a drone arrived to drop drug paraphernalia. Immediately alert soldiers shot him dead. During the investigation, 12.5 kg of heroin was recovered from the drone, which is said to have a market value of Rs 65 crore. If the BSF intercepts many such consignments, due to shortage of manpower, hundreds reach their destination easily. Big challenge before BSF: Seizing these drones is a very challenging task for BSF. According to data published in the Times of India, only 14 drones have been shot down since 2022. No one knows how many people completed their work and returned safely during this period. In fact, light drones are used by drug traffickers. Their price is not more than 10 to 15 thousand rupees. They earn crores of rupees from drug trafficking, so this loss is very small for them. In such a situation, when smuggling drugs, they send several drones to the Indian border at the same time. What's so addictive about all these drones? It is very difficult for BSF to find out that even if they shoot down the drone, they do not capture anything from it. Recently, the Punjab government has started installation of 500 meter CCTV along all borders. When Punjab's narcotics traffickers learned of increased border security, they convinced their Pakistani smuggling partners to make deliveries across the Rajasthan border. Apart from that he was given geographical information about the place. All this came to light on July 6 when the BSF arrested a man from Punjab who was waiting for delivery at the Rajasthan border. During intense interrogation, he claimed that he was doing courier duty for a drug gang operating in Punjab. According to The Times of India, one such operation was foiled on July 24 when the Bikaner Range Police recovered two packets of heroin dropped by a drone at two different locations along the Anupgarh border. Their market value is said to be around Rs.30 crore. Indian drug traffickers find it difficult when they easily cut the net they spread and get away with the job. As surveillance increased in Punjab, drug smugglers reached Rajasthan, Sriganganagar police chief Gaurav Yadav said, adding that they were well aware that Rajasthan's borders were closed as Punjab's Ferozepur and Fazilka border had strict vigilance. Time is facing shortage of soldiers. Till May this year, the Sri Ganganagar police seized 15 narcotics and arrested 300 people. All of them are connected with Punjab in one way or another. Yadav also warned that if these smugglers face problems in Rajasthan, they may turn towards Gujarat. Two districts namely Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh report that drug addiction is prevalent in these districts where drug addiction is worse. Thousands of youths from these two districts are currently undergoing treatment at drug de-addiction centers and thousands more are waiting. Their families have demanded that the government and administration provide proper treatment to their children. Apart from trafficking, court orders also play a major role in the spread of drugs in Rajasthan. On the condition of anonymity, a social worker here and a lawyer by profession disclosed a surprising information. As of July 2016, there were 216 Doda Poppy shops in Rajasthan, he says. Due to legal recognition, it was easily available to local people, especially in several districts like Sriganganagar, Parmar, Jaisalmer and Hanumangarh, but in 2016, the Rajasthan High Court banned its sale. Like other directives, the police administration had to struggle to implement this directive. As a result, 2900 kg of thoda poppy was seized in 2023, while the police recovered 1045 kg of thoda poppy till May this year. After this crackdown by the police, drug users are turning to synthetic drugs that are more dangerous than poppy. As traffickers from Punjab move to Rajasthan, the state is becoming a major market for drugs. Addicts have many options – they use the drug in the form of pills, powders and shots to get relief. If this problem is not controlled soon, the day is not far when people will identify this desert state as Uttar Rajasthan like Uttar Punjab.