2kg heroin seizure case: Ludhiana hosiery trader held in ₹15L drug money

Amritsar police arrested hosiery trader Gurcharan Singh linked to a drug network, seizing 2kg heroin and ₹15 lakh in hawala money.

Amritsar police on Tuesday busted a drug trafficking network seizing 2kg heroin and ₹15 lakh hawala money from a hosiery trader from Ludhiana, officials said.

The CP said as part of this drug supply network, Ludhiana-based hosiery trader Gurcharan Singh alias Channa was nominated in this case and was arrested from the bus stand area of police station A-Division, Amritsar. “This led to recovery of ₹15 lakh hawala money (drug proceeds) based on his disclosure.

“The cartel was busted with the arrest of Mantej Singh, a resident of a village in Tarn Taran along with 2.124kg of heroin. His interrogation led to the arrest of hosiery trader Gurcharan Singh alias Channa,” commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said.

“Upon in-depth investigation into the backward and forward links of the arrested accused Mantej, police unearthed the drug money connection to a hosiery trader in Ludhiana, who was linked to drug smugglers based in Afghanistan. The accused was allegedly involved in exporting hosiery goods to Afghanistan and, in return, received hawala money (drug proceeds) from various parts of Punjab and Delhi”, CP Bhullar said.

The CP said as part of this drug supply network, Ludhiana-based hosiery trader Gurcharan Singh alias Channa was nominated in this case and was arrested from the bus stand area of police station A-Division, Amritsar. “This led to recovery of ₹15 lakh hawala money (drug proceeds) based on his disclosure,” he added.

Bhullar said during hosiery trader’s interrogation, he revealed that a firm named Micky Traders Company, Ludhiana, in 2021 was established, specialising in exporting ladies’ hosiery goods to Kabul, Afghanistan.

“Over time, he (Channa) developed links with Afghan drug suppliers and, upon their instructions, personally collected drug money from Amritsar, Ludhiana and various locations in Delhi. In exchange, he would export ladies’ hosiery goods to Afghanistan, accepting 10% of the transaction value in his bank account or via Google Pay, while 90% of the money was received through hawala transactions,” Bhullar said.

“The police have obtained Channa’s remand for further interrogation with an aim to trace backwards and forward links and conduct financial investigations and scrutinise his bank accounts,” the CP said.

Gangster hurt in police encounter

Amritsar A gangster identified as Jagroop Singh Charna, an associate of notorious gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, was injured in an encounter with police encounter while trying to escape police custody on Tuesday evening, officials said.

Commissioner of Police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Charna was working for gangster Landa who along with other foreign-based associates was making extortion calls to prominent businessmen in the state.

“Based on this, a case was registered and the police team of CIA Staff-1, Amritsar, arrested three accused who had conducted recce of the Amritsar businessman and had sent photos of his office and vehicles to Jarnail Singh, a resident of Talwandi Mohar Singh, currently residing in Australia. Jarnail is the brother of Rajwinder Singh alias Raza, who was killed in a gang war near Patti,” he said.

Bhullar said the encounter happened when one of the accused Jagroop Singh Charna was taken for recovery of the weapon.

“Police recovered one .32 bore pistol and two live cartridges from him and while returning to Chheharta police station, Charna attempted to grab ASI Pawan Kumar’s service pistol in an attempt to escape. He was shot in the right leg by inspector Vinod Kumar (SHO), Chheharta police station,” the CP said.

“The injured was rushed to civil hospital for treatment. Further investigation is in progress,” Bhullar added.