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Jihad against drugs
Narcotics are the cause of some of the worst crimes in our society. The most frightening are the drug-related crimes being committed by the addicts themselves to satisfy their urge for the required doze.
Salman Qureshi, Additional IGP Punjab, and Salahuddin Niazi, DIG Crime Branch, carried out research on the subject. The results were horrify­ing. The young men of 18 to 28 years, belonging mostly to middle class families, were committing burglaries, thefts, dacoities and other crimes to satisfy their needs for the costly heroine. After they were hooked under the influence of bad company, they needed much more than their pocket money to buy the daily dose. They would steal first from their own homes. Then they would join the wide world of crime and steal wherever they could. As the addiction increased, the frequency and scope of crime also expanded.
Our research indicated cases where sons had murdered even their par­ents to get their money and means for the purchase of drugs. A foreign-edu­cated ad­dict son killed his father and mother in cold-blood and put their bodies on fire in their own car, only because they were not willing to meet his ever-increas­ing demand. He was the only son and the father was a retired Lt Colonel. There were so many similar cases everywhere, among the rich as well as poor, educated as well as ignorant, in the cities as well as the villages.
I called a meeting of the DIGs and other senior police officers to discuss the drug-related crime. Salman and Niazi explained the enormity of the problem with facts and figures. Khalid Latif, Director, R&D, mentioned some cases where the sanctity of family relations had collapsed under the ir­resistible craving for drugs. Brothers had raped and murdered their sisters, husbands had sold wives for prostitution, fathers had raped and butchered their daughters, servants had killed their masters, teachers had sold their stu­dents. DIG Tanweer Hameed, in a research and strategy paper, quantified the problem and proposed remedial meas­ures. There were other useful ana­lytical reports.
We decided that first we must put the total picture before our own force and make them aware of the situation. Second, we must brief the courts with facts and figures. Then we must create awareness among various sections of the society to get their coopera­tion. We knew that the district administration and police were the only ef­fective organs that could produce results. And it was the police that had the real reach.

The senior officers addressed the junior officers and the constabulary and explained to them the evil consequences of the drugs on our society. They emphasized its eradication as a national cause. The constabulary, so motivated, vowed to eradicate the curse at all costs. The courts, under the noble and pious Chief Justice Mian Mahboob Ahmad, were already strict against the drug pushers. The Deputy Commissioners and SPs addressed the bars, ulema, journalists, intellectuals, teachers, students and other sections of the society to increase their awareness of the menace. The administration or­gan­ized seminars, processions and walks against narcotics. The federal and provincial ministers led processions of people from various walks of life. The MNAs, MPAs, councilors and lawyers were also in the forefront. The students showed the maximum enthusiasm. At some places, the angry processionists physically attacked the sale points of drugs. It struck a real terror among the drug pushers. Many of them ran for their lives. In some cases, the lawyers refused to defend them in courts.
When I learnt about their moral approach, I called another meeting of my officers to emphasize our responsibility and obligation to avoid any false planting of drugs on innocent persons. We had to come up to the expecta­tions of the people, the lawyers and the courts who had placed so much trust in the police. The police did not betray their trust and during the campaign there was no complaint of any false recovery or planting of drugs on any in­nocent person. The constabulary was highly motivated by their officers and chased the drug pushers everywhere. They fought a con­tinuous war and many of them died in the process.
The Mianwali and Attock police took such a vigorous and comprehen­sive action that the big barons in the tribal area of NWFP stopped the dis­patch of heroin consignments to avoid captures. They wanted to wait till the things cooled down but the police had vowed to keep the heat on con­stantly. Mianwali and Attock were the two main entry points from the NWFP into the Punjab because of the only two bridges over the Indus river near the two cities. Once the two routes were closed, the whole Punjab ran short of drug stocks. SP Mian Muhammad Asif at Mianwali and SP Nasir Durrani at At­tock had motivated their constabulary to such an extent that they hunted and haunted the smugglers even on the other mostly unfrequented crossing points on the Indus. In one case, a patrol of the Mianwali police, consisting only of constables, intercepted three kiraya-kash (paid carriers), interrogated them there and then and made them to divulge their connections. As a result, 12 other carriers were captured with big con­sign­ments and, at the same time, a hideout was raided in Sargodha, which yielded large quantities of hashish and heroine and also a large number of rocket launch­ers and Kalashnikovs. Ch. Iftikhar Cheema, the Sessions Judge, Sargodha, a very honest and dedi­cated judicial officer, sentenced every one of the culprits to rigorous impris­onment of 20 years for various offences.
The Rawalpindi police intercepted two carriers with their consignment. During interrogation, they disclosed their connections in Lahore, Bhai Pheru (near Lahore), Kasur, Okara and Bahawalnagar. Simultaneous raids were organized on 23 of their hideouts and huge quantities of weapons and heroine were recovered from there. The Session Judges were prompt in punishing the drug dealers, sentencing some of them for even more than 60 years. The inacces­sible underground cellars of notorious drug pushers were broken open. The notorious dealers like Sharifa and his sons in Bhai Pheru, Sardara in Okara, and Sharif Wattoo in Bahawalnagar were brought to jus­tice. Most of them had scores of cases against them but still managed to go on bail. But this time the judges gave them immediate and severe punishments.
The filthy rich smugglers were very perplexed and wondered what had happened to the police. What had happened was that the police had been made aware of the horrors of the drug menace and had been moti­vated to do their moral and legal duty to eradicate it. So were the courts. Now the matter was no longer being taken in routine.
The patrons of the merchants of death were also having a difficult time. Mirza Shams-ul-Hasan, SP Okara, forced the notorious Dhakkoo family and Sheikh family of Okara out of the dirty business. Mian Zaman, a federal minister, tried to help them but met with a stonewall. He met the Chief Minister, who asked me to transfer the DSP who had arrested the Sheikh family. When I explained the background to the Chief Minister, he did not press for the transfer. Mian Zaman then approached Mian Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of the Prime Minister. When I explained the situation, Shehbaz Sharif also distanced himself from the matter. Finally, Mian Zaman himself got dissuaded when Mirza Shams, on my advice, gave him full de­tails of the activities of the drug dealers.
The police of the Kasur district meticu­lously traced, arrested and chal­laned the culprits, led by its upright chief, Zafar Qureshi, SP, and his consci­entious ASP, Dr Shafique. Sardar Ghulam Farid, Sessions Judge, Kasur, gave life imprisonment to most of the drug smugglers.
Zafar Qureshi, later as SP Sialkot, completely eradicated the drug men­ace in the district with the help of his hardworking and devoted officers and men. He threw an open challenge that he would pay Rs 10,000 to any­one who could point out any place in the district where heroin could be found. He withstood tremendous pressures and met the challenges with courage and devotion. The Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court praised his efforts profusely during their visit to Sialkot.
Some big bosses of the crime world, while themselves being in jail, continued to operate in drug trafficking and other profitable crimes through their second-line operatives outside. They would use even mobile telephones. DIG Tanweer Hameed, of Special Branch, collected necessary information about them. Ch. Nazir Ahmad, who also controlled the jails as the Home Secretary, was provided the details and he took strict measures to make the jail inmates inoperative.

It was not always a smooth sailing. The police had to pay a very high price. A large number of policemen died gallantly doing their duty or rather going beyond the call of duty. Maj. Mushtaq, DIG Multan, lost some of his brave officers and men while fighting the drug barons in Multan, Khanewal, Kabirwala and Sahiwal. DIG Irfan Mahmood also lost his gallant officers and men in Muzaffargarh and D.G. Khan. So did DIG Rafique Haider in Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar.
The problem, however, had been bridled. The heroin became scarce and the addicts started dying everywhere. Due to non-availability of heroine, seven addicts died in Okara in one day, three in Rawalpindi, 27 in Lahore and so on. Initially I could not care less because I thought it was a good rid­dance. But then the number ran into hundreds and it became a hu­man prob­lem of serious dimension. The miserable addict was not the villain but, in fact, the victim. Therefore, I talked to the government and health authorities but they were tardy in arranging treatment. The doctors and hospitals esti­mated millions of rupees for the treatment projects. I was on the horns of a di­lemma. I could not go lax on the campaign, started with so much efforts and pains, but I also felt sorry for the wretched dying addicts. The policemen themselves found a way out. They were so motivated that they rose to the highest level of compassion and themselves organized treat­ment centers for the miserable addicts in the police lines and police hospitals. The policemen donated blood and medicines from their own pockets. The people appreci­ated the noble gesture of the police and joined in a big way in the rehabilita­tion and treatment of the addicts. They overwhelmed us with their generosity by donating medicines, funds and other resources. After some time, the po­lice treatment centers became self-sufficient because of the public help. The deputy commissioners were very help­ful and enthusiastic for setting up treatment centers. I vis­ited the treat­ment hospitals and saw humanity in misery and agony. However, it was a great consolation when I would receive hun­dreds of letters of thanks from the par­ents, brothers or sisters of the wretched addicts under treatment in the police hospitals.

The success of the campaign was widely noted. The U.S. Drug En­forcement Agency and the U.N. officers for monitoring narcotics control were delighted and surprised on the unprecedented success. They visited many districts to see the results for themselves. The American Ambassador and the Counsel General visited Attock, Sialkot and Kasur and appreciated the police performance. Malik Muhammad Nawaz, the Chairman, and Malik Nazir Ahmad, the Secretary, of Pakistan Narcotics Control Board, specially came to me and Pervez Masud, the Chief Secretary, to express their appre­ciation on the effective action taken by us. Rana Chandar Singh, the federal minister for the narcotics control, convened a special meeting and wanted to know the secret of our success. I explained that the most important factor behind our success was the harmony between the police, the courts and the people.