E-Paper
Border farmer, two sons held with 1kg heroin in Punjab’s Tarn Taran
Punjab police said Sukhwant was in touch with peddlers with links to Pakistan-based smugglers
Police on Saturday arrested a border farmer and his two sons and claimed to have recovered 1kg heroin from them near Kalas village in Bhikhiwind sub-division of Tarn Taran district.
The accused were identified as Sukhwant Singh, 52, and his sons Kawaljit Singh, 23, and Randhir Singh, 19, of Bhura Kareempura village, situated 2 km from the barbed fence at the India-Pakistan border.
Police said Sukhwant was in touch with peddlers with links to Pakistan-based smugglers. Addressing a press conference, Tarn Taran superintendent of police (SP-headquarters) Harjit Singh said, “A team comprising the station house officers (SHOs) of Khalra, Valtoha and Khemkaran was constituted to launch search operation in the villages along the border nabbed the three with the contraband valuing ₹5 crore in the international market. They were on a tractor, which was also confiscated. The accused were booked under Sections 21, 29, 61, 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the Khemkaran police station.”
Bhikhiwind deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sulakhan Singh Mann said, “Sukhwant Singh has been listed as an ‘A-category’ smuggler. He was on bail for nearly a year in a case related to the recovery of 4kg heroin from him eight years ago.
Court had convicted him in the case and awarded 12-year jail. He had also confessed to have supplied 16kg heroin to some Indian smugglers. We found in our probe that after Sukhwant was out on bail, he came in touch with Basarke village’s Nanni, who recently died, with links to Pakistan smugglers. Sukhwant had been moving Nanni’s heroin consignments at the border.”
