Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday described village defence committees (VDC) members as “frontline warriors” and state govt’s “eyes and ears” against the drug mafia, asserting that every input received through the committees is acted upon directly and without delay.AAP’s Punjab state media incharge Baltej Pannu said the identity of members providing information remained confidential, while weekly or fortnightly review meetings in each village and ward were being held to identify drug hotspots. “In the past 15 days alone, more than 300 drug peddlers have been arrested with the help of VDC inputs, resulting in a crackdown,” he said.Pannu said, “In every village and ward of Punjab, a village defence committee has been formed by bringing together eight-10 aware citizens. This is not a mere paper exercise, as Captain Amarinder Singh did in 2018. Today, every member has a special app through which direct information about drug sellers reaches the police headquarters and the chief minister’s office. So far, more than 1,400 complaints were received through this app, on which strict action was taken and FIRs were registered.“
