Three persons including a woman have been arrested from Shambhu on New Delhi-Rajpura national highway on Friday for alleged possession of 2kg heroin.
The accused have been identified as Rashid Ali, 26, of New Delhi; Naseer, 21, and Zeenat, 27, of Mumbai. They were entering Punjab from Ambala side when the police intercepted their vehicle and recovered the contraband.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that acting on a tip-off, a team, led by Shambhu station house officer (SHO) Prem Singh, set up a special checkpost at Shambhu and signalled a taxi (bearing registration number HR 55AG 6964) coming from Ambala side to stop.
“During checking of the vehicle, the team found heroin stashed in polythene bags,” the SSP said.
He added that during interrogation, the accused confessed that they were on their way to Dharamgarh town in Moga district and where they were supposed to deliver the drug to some unknown person.
“The accused deposed that the drugs was handed over to them by Naseer’s sister, Ruksaar, who operates the drug peddling business in partnership with a Nigerian nation from New Delhi,” the SSP said.
He said that in the preliminary investigation, it came to fore that Ruksaar is running the drug nexus and using Patiala as a transit route.
{{/usCountry}}He said that in the preliminary investigation, it came to fore that Ruksaar is running the drug nexus and using Patiala as a transit route.
{{/usCountry}}“Ruksaar hired a cab driver known to her, Rashid, and started tracking movement of the vehicle. The accused were told that they will get details of the receiver once they reached Dharamgarh,” the SSP said.
He said the accused told police that whenever the accused stopped at some dhabha for refreshments, Ruksaar would immediately called them, directing them not to make unnecessary halts.
“When police intercepted the vehicle, Ruksaar immediately disconnected the device she was using to track the vehicle’s movement. We have sent a team of police officials to Delhi to arrest Ruksaar after getting vital clues about her whereabouts,” he said.
Police have registered a case against the accused under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The accused have confessed that it was their first trip to Punjab for smuggling drugs, police said.
“We are contacting the Mumbai police to gather more information on Naseer and Ruksaar’s family. So far we have discovered that the family members used to work as bartenders and dancers at bars in Mumbai,” the SSP said.