Amritsar Journalist of a Punjabi daily was among three people arrested on Monday with 1 kg heroin, ₹23 lakh in cash, a pistol and cartridges, police said on Tuesday.
The accused have been identified as Simranjit Singh aka Simar of Sahowal village who works for a Punjabi daily, Sarabjit Singh aka Saba of Fatowal village and Surjit Masih of Gurala village. The accused belong to villages falling under the Ajnala sub-division of the district.
Addressing a press conference here, senior superintendent of police (SSP-rural) Vikramjit Singh Duggal said Ajnala SHO Amandeep Singh got a tip off about the presence of drug smugglers and barricading was done to nab them.
“The police team stopped a Maruti Suzuki car (PB-02-6001) in which the accused were sitting. The team sent for deputy superintendent of police (DSP-Ajnala) Harpeet Singh who reached the spot and the occupants of the car were searched,” said the SSP.
He said during the search, the cops recovered 298gm heroin from Simranjit; 405gm from Sarabjit and 302gm from Surjit. During frisking of the car, police found ₹23 lakh, a 32-bore unlicenced pistol and 61 cartridges, he added.
{{/usCountry}}He said during the search, the cops recovered 298gm heroin from Simranjit; 405gm from Sarabjit and 302gm from Surjit. During frisking of the car, police found ₹23 lakh, a 32-bore unlicenced pistol and 61 cartridges, he added.
{{/usCountry}}After the recovery, the three men were arrested and a case under Section 21-25-29-61-85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered at Ajnala police station.
The SSP said preliminary investigation pointed to possibility of their links with Pakistani smugglers. “Our investigation is still on to know whether the accused were in contact with the smugglers in the neighbouring country. We are also checking their mobile phones,” said Duggal.
Mystery over seized pistol
Mystery shrouds the 32-bore pistol seized from the accused as it carries the number (RP172130) which is similar to the one seized by the police two years ago from near the barbed fence. That pistol recovered two years ago remained unclaimed.
“The pistol recovered on Monday was illegal and it carried a fake number. We are investigating from where they got the pistol and how the number on it matched that of the other one,” said the SSP.