Jalandhar, Sept. 12 -- Over 17 months after its launch, Punjab government's ambitious anti-drug campaign "Yudh Nashian Virudh" is set to enter the final phase with a mass outreach campaign in villages across the state. For this, the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government has come up a special team comprising over 500 volunteers, which would gather feedback from locals about the campaign, launched in March last year, and its results on the ground. Addressing volunteers at the Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur, AAP state president and cabinet minister Aman Arora claimed that the campaign had done a remarkable job in tackling the drug menace by breaking the backbone of the drug network in the state. "Yudh Nashian Virudh has turned out to be a decisive war against drugs in Punjab, with more than 76,000 arrests made during the 560-day drive," Arora said. Announcing the final stage, the minister said, "During the next one month, more than 500 team members would visit every village and ward to interact with residents and discuss the progress made in the fight against the drug menace. The mass outreach campaign would serve as the final nail in the coffin of drug abuse by generating awareness among people at the grassroots level and further strengthening public participation in the ongoing drive." The first phase of the anti-drug campaign, launched on March 1 last year, focused mainly on complete crackdown on drug smugglers, besides cutting drug supply in the state and rehabilitation of the drug addicts. As many as 29,980 FIRs were registered under the NDPS Act across the state and 358 big fish involved in drug smuggling were arrested. As many as 90,000 drug addicts were identified and provided required rehabilitation treatment in state-run drug de-addiction centres.In the second phase started from January 10 onwards, the government had roped in a team of 1.5 lakh volunteers, christened "Pinda de Pehredaar", who remained part of Village Defence Committees (VDCs) to conduct anti-drug campaigns across the state....