DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH/LUDHIANA Punjab Police on Tuesday carried out a special cordon-and-search operation aimed at checking the movement of anti-social elements and drug smugglers across the state. Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav led the entire Punjab Police Force to conduct Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in all the 28 Police districts of the state. The operation was conducted from 11am to 4pm simultaneously across the state and ADGP/IGP rank officers from Punjab Police Headquarters were deputed in each Police district to personally supervise the operation. "The idea behind conducting CASO at mass-scale level was to boost public confidence and increase the presence of the cops to infuse fear among the anti-social elements," said the DGP, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the operation in Ludhiana. He joined ADGP Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs Gurpreet Kaur and Commissioner of Police (CP) Ludhiana Mandeep Singh Sidhu in Ludhiana to conduct the operation in different areas here. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the operation was conducted after the identification of drug and crime hotspots through data analysis by district police forces. He said that proper frisking of suspected persons and complete search of houses was done by the Police force under the supervision of senior officers. He said that sniffer dogs and drones were also deputed in these hotspots to ensure strict vigil. He said that on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Police will uphold glorious tradition by serving the people and the force will not rest till the elimination of drugs and gangsterism completely from the state. On being asked regarding new directions about the issuance of arms licenses, the DGP said that no new arms license would be issued till the physical verification of previous arms licenses in the next three months. He said that public display of weapons, even on social media, would be dealt with an iron hand, and action will be taken against violators. He pointed out that the cyber wing of the Punjab police will keep watch on social networking sites to check the violations. "FIR will be registered immediately in case anyone is found indulging in hate speech against any community," he said, adding that no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands. Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, the operation was carried out in areas including Ghorha Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Moti Nagar and Peeru Banda localities four suspected persons identified as Mohit Kumar of Durgapuri Mohalla, Sonu of Peeru Banda, Gaurav of Chander Nagar, and Mohan of New Kundanpuri were rounded-up during the search operation, while, 12-gms heroin was recovered during a search in Ghora colony. (editor@dailyworld.in)