E-Paper
3 held with 18-kg opium amid curfew in Ludhiana
Two accused smuggled the contraband from Bhilwara of Rajasthan; third accused, who bought 1kg opium from the duo, was planning to sell the contraband at higher rates to addicts
Khanna police arrested three men with 18-kg opium on Monday. The accused were identified as Harjot Singh alias Jot, 25; Jatinder Singh, 24; and Balkar Singh, 53; all hailing from Takhran village in Samrala.
A case under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against the three accused.
Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP), Harpreet Singh said Harjot and Jatinder were arrested during a special check near the Neelon Canal bridge when the duo was coming from the Takhran village side on a motorcycle.
“During questioning, Harjot and Jatinder told the police that they had smuggled 18-kg opium from Bhilwara of Rajasthan in trucks and then sold 1-kg opium to Balkar, who in turn was planning to sell the contraband at a higher rates to addicts,” the SSP said.
He added, “On frisking, we seized 3kg opium from Harjot and Jatinder. Following the information provided by Harjot, we recovered 14kg additional opium from his house.”
Harjot is already facing a trial in five cases, including attempt to murder, assault and drug peddling, the SSP added.
Sub-inspector Sikandar Singh said they are probing to find out how Harjot and Jatinder managed to smuggle the contraband from Rajasthan amid the curfew.
“The duo has been buying opium for ₹1 lakh per kg from Rajasthan and then selling it for ₹1.25 lakh per kg,” the sub-inspector added.
