Punjab: 4 kg heroin seized; seven held

Chandigarh, Dec 30 (IANS) In a breakthrough, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border drug smuggling cartel with links to Pakistan-based handlers with the arrest of seven accused and recovered 4.075 kg heroin, one kg methamphetamine, commonly known as ICE, and one 9mm Glock pistol from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday. 

Those arrested have been identified as Judgebir Singh, alias Judge (21), of Jasraur village in Amritsar, Jaspal Singh, alias Jass (22), of Ajnala in Amritsar, Anmolpreet Singh (19) of Lopa village in Gurdaspur, Harpinder Singh, alias Bhinda (32), of Sandalpur village in Gurdaspur, Tarunpreet Singh (20) of Sandalpur village in Gurdaspur, Dawinder Singh, alias Bau (33), of Bua Nangli village in Amritsar and Mandeep Singh (24) of Bua Nangli village in Amritsar. 

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the contraband was smuggled from Pakistan and distributed across the state through local modules guided via social media. 

Further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages in this case, he said. Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on specific and credible intelligence inputs, police teams first apprehended Judgebir Singh and recovered 225 grams of heroin from his possession. 

Sustained interrogation and technical analysis of digital communication led investigators further up the supply chain, resulting in the arrest of his associate Jaspal Singh, from whom 1.6 kg of heroin was recovered. 

Continuing the operation and acting on disclosures, police teams further apprehended Anmolpreet Singh, Harpinder Singh and Tarunpreet Singh, leading to the recovery of an additional 2.2 kg heroin from their possession, he said, adding the probe has revealed that these accused were acting as couriers and distributors, operating on the explicit instructions of Pakistan-based handlers, who coordinated narcotic drops and circulation across districts. 

During the operation, Bhullar said another arm of the network was exposed when the police, during routine patrolling, apprehended Dawinder and Mandeep Singh along with a 9MM Glock pistol and a motorcycle. 

Intensive interrogation of the accused led to the recovery of one kg ICE from their possession, he said. 

Bhullar said that background checks further exposed the criminal antecedents of the arrested accused Judgebir is previously involved in an attempt to murder case, while Jaspal Singh is facing prosecution under the Arms Act, and Dawinder Singh has been facing two cases under the NDPS Act. 

During the investigation, accused Dawinder had returned to India one and a half years ago after residing in Dubai for nearly 10 years, during which he developed contacts with international drug smugglers, he added. 

--IANS 

vg/dan