Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy launched the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Task Force on Thursday to curb the drug menace in the state.

Revanth Reddy in his address at the meeting said that the motto of Zero Tolerance – Total Surveillance, EAGLE has been equipped with highly trained personnel, advanced surveillance technologies, and coordinated support from law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The elite unit will commence operations across the state with the mission to identify, prevent, and eliminate all forms of drug-related activities. Revanth Reddy declared that the Telangana Anti-Narcotic Bureau (TGNAB) will henceforth be called EAGLE, in a meeting held at Hyderabad.

The specialised task force dedicated to combating the menace of drugs and illegal ganja cultivation on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. He announced that from urban neighbourhoods to remote forest areas, EAGLE teams will keep a relentless vigil to ensure that not even a single ganja plant is cultivated, nor a trace of drugs enters Telangana’s borders.

He also emphasized the need to make Telangana a model state in eliminating the menace of drugs. Telangana is an IT and Pharma hub. If it becomes a ganja and drugs hub, this would mean we all have failed, he added.

Telangana is the land of struggles and movements, it would be insulting if it becomes the land of drugs, he said. He appealed to the educational institutions to take all measures to keep the students away from drug abuse.

He reiterated that his Government would be firm in dealing with those indulging in trafficking. He had already asked his ministerial colleagues and top police officials to take stringent action so that traffickers think 100 times before entering Telangana.

Eminent filmmaker Dil Raju, BJP MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, DGP Jitender, and senior officials attended the programme.