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Police freeze assets worth ₹10 crore of 2 Tarn Taran drug smugglers
SSP Dhruv Dahiya said they froze the assets after receiving an order from the competent authority.
Police on Wednesday froze assets worth ₹10 crore of two notorious drug smugglers, including Balwinder Singh alias Billa Havelian, from Tarn Taran district.
Assets worth over ₹8 crore were frozen of Billa, 54, in Tarn Taran and Mohali districts. He hails from Havelian village near the India-Pakistan border that has gained notoriety in the past few years for cross-border smuggling of drugs.
He faces FIRs in 15 cases, including that for drug smuggling from Pakistan and attempt to murder charges, in various districts of Punjab. He has been lodged in a Patiala jail after his arrest in August 2019 with 750 gram heroin.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruv Dahiya said they froze the assets after receiving an order from the competent authority.
He said, “The assets include agricultural land at Dhalla village which is worth ₹1.05 crore and land at Mohali’s Jhanjeri village which is worth ₹7.08 crore.”
He said police had already seized Billa’s property worth ₹74 lakh in 2019.
Billa has been involved in drug smuggling for nearly three decades. The first FIR was registered against him under the NDPS Act in 1992.
The police also froze assets worth ₹2 crore of another drug smuggler Kinderbir Singh, alias Sunny, of Dyal Rajputan village.
The properties include agricultural land and a residential house. Sunny has been booked in at least 8 cases, including that of drug smuggling and attempt to murder.
The SSP said so far they have frozen the properties worth ₹71 crore of 63 drug peddlers, most having links with Pakistan-based smugglers.
“We have identified properties of more drug dealers. Once we get a nod from the central agencies, these properties will also be frozen,” he said.
