Nagpur Police’s ‘Operation Thunder’, launched under then Commissioner of Police (CP) Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal, has emerged as a practical case study in UPSC examination for tackling drug trafficking and organised crime. According to police figures, more than 1,000 cases under the NDPS Act were registered during the campaign. Around 1,438 accused were arrested and drugs worth nearly Rs 22 crore were seized. The seizures included around 1,500 kg ganja, valued at Rs 3.36 crore, and nearly 17 kg mephedrone, valued at more than Rs 11 crore. Dr Singal stressed that the fight against drugs cannot be left to the police alone. “Drug trafficking is not only a law-and-order issue. It affects families, youth and society as a whole.

 

Police action has to be supported by parents, educational institutions and citizens,” Dr Singal said. OperationThunder focused on identifying the people behind the supply chain. Police also examined the financial networks and assets linked to the drug trade. The idea was to hit the economic strength of organised drug networks instead of focusing only on street-level peddlers. “If we only arrest one peddler, another person can take his place.We have to reach the people controlling the supply chain and attack the financial resources of the network,” Dr Singal said. Prevention was another major part of the campaign.

 

Awareness programmes were conducted in schools and colleges and reportedly reached more than five lakh students. Police also conducted antidrug pledge drives and outreach programmes in slums and economically weaker neighbourhoods. Dr Singal said young people need to understand the risks before they are exposed to addiction. “Awareness among youngsters is as important as enforcement. Parents, teachers and senior citizens can play an important role in identifying vulnerable youth and preventing them from falling into the drug trap,” he said 

 

 

Operation Thunder provides a contemporary example for UPSC General Studies (GS) Paper III, particularly on internal security, organised crime, narcotics trafficking and illicit financial networks. It also shows how intelligence-led policing, financial investigation, enforcement and community participation can be combined in the fight against drugs, said Dr Singal. The initiative is not a formal UPSC case study or endorsement. However, its experience provides civil services aspirants with a local example to explain the need for a multi-dimensional strategy against drug trafficking. The Nagpur experience also highlights an important lesson: sustained action against drugs requires not just arrests, but prevention, public participation, inter-agency coordination and action against the financial backbone of organised crime, said Dr Singal.