
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ludhiana Range, Sandeep Goel on Friday, 9 October 2026, launched Operation KAWACH at Gulzar Group of Institutions in Khanna to prevent drug abuse among college students through peer support and anonymous QR code reporting.

Conceived by Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, the initiative rests on three pillars: CONNECT (peer support groups linked with civil and police mentors), DETECT (KAWACH QR codes for anonymous reporting under options such as ‘I need help’, ‘I am worried about someone’, or ‘I want to report something’), and PROTECT (timely intervention through designated mentors).
DIG Goel said illicit drug networks often expand through peer circles, and the programme aims to reverse that network effect by making peer groups a protective shield. SSP Ahluwalia said the objective is that before drugs can reach a student, KAWACH must reach them first.
Both yespunjab.com and Hindustan Times provide nearly identical straight news coverage of the launch, attributing the same quotes to DIG Sandeep Goel and SSP Dr Darpan Ahluwalia and describing the same three-pillar structure. Neither outlet adds any external criticism, data on drug prevalence, or comment from students or civil society. The uniform framing presents the initiative as a well-designed preventive measure, without scrutiny of implementation challenges or past policing failures. The practical test will be the volume and quality of anonymous reports the QR codes generate and how quickly mentors respond. No next step or monitoring date was announced.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): yespunjab.com (neutral report), hindustantimes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.