E-Paper
Amritsar: Two held as cops bust drone-based smuggling module; pistols seized
The module members received 5kg of heroin and 5 pistols in five different consignments airdropped by Pakistani drones, say cops
The counterintelligence (CI) wing of Punjab Police has busted a module involved in the smuggling of heroin and weapons via Pakistan drones with the arrest of two of its members.
The arrested accused has been identified as Rajinder Kumar alias Ghudi of Dhanoe Kalan village. His accomplice Inderjit Singh alias Malhi of Attari village, who was already lodged in Amritsar Central Jail, was also nominated in the case based on the interrogation of Rajinder.
The police have also recovered two pistols of .30 and .32 bores from the possession of the accused. According to police, the module members had received 5 kg of heroin and five pistols in five different consignments airdropped by Pakistani drones in the Amritsar sector.
Manhunt is on to arrest the other members of the module and for the recovery of 5 kg of heroin and the remaining two pistols. Police had recovered one of the pistols earlier in another case, police said.
CI spokesperson said a team comprising deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Balbir Singh and inspector Inderdeep Singh had arrested Rajinder from a hotel in Chandigarh on June 16.
“During his questioning, Rajinder disclosed Inderjit’s name as his associate. Inderjit was arrested from Amritsar jail and brought on a production warrant. During the duo’s questioning, we recovered two pistols,” he said.
He further said that preliminary investigations have revealed that in the year 2022, Rajinder Kumar’s friend Gulwinder Singh alias Tinku of village Rangarh in Amritsar district had introduced him to Pakistan-based heroin and arms ammunitions smuggler Taruf through WhatsApp.
“So far, Rajinder Kumar and Gulwinder Singh have picked up four consignments of drugs and arms ammunition in the area of village Pakka Pind near Attari in Amritsar Rural, which were delivered by drone from across the border. They had received a total of five pistols; two of .30 bore, one of .32 bore, two of .9mm, and five packets of heroin. Out of the five, three pistols have been recovered while they had already further delivered two pistols and five packets of heroin to some other parties. Efforts are being made to recover the remaining part of the consignment as well as to arrest the other persons involved in the module,” he added.
Rajinder Kumar and Inderjit are already facing three and two criminal cases, including drug smuggling, respectively.
One held with three pistols
The Amritsar CI wing of Punjab Police arrested one Rajan Singh of Patti city in Tarn Taran district and seized three pistols from his possession.
According to police, Rajan has already been facing four criminal cases, including drugs and arms smuggling. DSP Balbir Singh said their investigation to ascertain the backward and forward linkages of Rajan is still on.
