Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will hold a high level meeting with the police, excise departments’ officials on October 20 at Pragathi Bhavan to formulate a stringent strategy to control the illegal transport of the banned intoxicating substances (illegal drugs) in Telangana.

After the formation of the Telangana state, the state government had taken several measures to strengthen the police department, which included its modernization, for maintaining better law and order situation in the state.

The state government had strictly enforced the ban on illicit liquor, playing cards clubs. In the backdrop of an increase in drug abuse cases in the country as well as the illegal drug mafia, the CM is holding a high-level meeting with the police and excise officials in the state to take measures to eradicate and arrest the problem.

In the proposed high-level meeting, Home Minister Mehmood Ali, Excise Minister T Srinivas Goud, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Home and Excise departments’ Chief Secretaries, DGP Mahender Reddy, Police Commissioners, IGs, DIGs, Additional DG (Law and Order), Additional DG (Intelligence), Districts SPs, Excise department Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, District Superintendents, Higher official from the State Special Task Force on Drugs wing will participate. The CM has instructed the district excise officials to come out with reports for the meeting on the existing situation and measures so far taken.

The meeting will also discuss the matter pertaining to incidence of illicit liquor sale and functioning of playing cards clubs at some places in the state and the measures to be taken to curb them immediately. By and large illicit liquor trade and functioning of the playing cards clubs were successfully controlled in the state barring a few incidents. The proposed meeting will draw an action plan to prevent youth from getting into the trap of drug abuse and also rehabilitate those who became victims of the drug trade.