CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Monday decided to recommend to the Centre death penalty for drug smugglers and peddlers. The move follows a huge spurt in deaths across the state allegedly due to drug overdose.

At a meeting chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the Punjab cabinet decided to send a formal recommendation to the Centre at the earliest to amend the legislation involved. Punjab would be perhaps the first state in the country to make such a recommendation.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act provides for death sentence for repeat offenders, but the Punjab government wants this penalty to be imposed for all drug smugglers and peddlers.

The cabinet also decided to form a special working group to monitor action against drug menace on a daily basis. It was suggested at the meeting that cases be registered in all such deaths in order to identify risk factors, including supply of spurious drugs and mixing of drugs with other death-causing substances.

