E-Paper
Amritsar man held for smuggling heroin through sea route
9.5 lakh drug money seized; was wanted by anti-terrorist squad, Gujarat, in 126kg heroin smuggling case
AMRITSAR : The state special operation cell (SSOC) of Amritsar has arrested an interstate drug smuggler wanted by the anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Gujarat, in the 126Kg heroin smuggling case, said Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Thursday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Rajbir Singh, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Tarn Taran Road, Amritsar. He was peddling drugs for the past many years and had been living discreetly in a rented house in Chheharta area to evade arrest, said the police.
The DGP said in an intelligence-led operation, Rajbir was arrested from Amritsar city area with the recovery of 128gm of heroin and ₹9,60,000 drug money along with electronic weighing machine from his Toyota Glanza car, which has also been impounded.
Preliminary investigations reveal that Rajbir had been procuring heroin from his associate, identified as Prabhjit Singh of Patti, the DGP said, adding that in March, both had also travelled to Jamnagar in Gujarat in two separate vehicles, including the impounded Toyota Glanza, to procure large consignment of heroin. Rajbir had also taken his mother-in-law Rajwant Kaur along to evade detection by the police, he added.
He said the role of Rabir, Prabhjit and Rajwant came into the criminal case registered under NDPS act by ATS Ahmedabad, where a fisherman, identified as Ameen of Dwarka (Gujarat), was arrested for collecting consignment of 126Kg heroin supplied via sea route on March 2. However, the drug consignment was not recovered, the Gujarat Police had already arrested Rajwant Kaur (mother-in-law of Rajbir), who is a resident of Guru Nanak Colony in Amritsar. Ameen, who owned a fishing boat, was in contact with a Pakistan smuggler.
A fresh case has been registered under Sections 21, 25, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act at the SSOC’s Amritsar police station.
