E-Paper
‘Army deserter’ arrested with 12.5-kg heroin seized
Identified as Amritpal Singh, the accused was also wanted in another case related to the recovery of 33-kg of heroin from Jammu and Kashmir. He is said to have been a part of the Pakistan-linked heroin smuggling racket.
Counter-intelligence (CI) sleuths arrested an “army deserter” and seized 12.5-kg heroin from his possession on Saturday. Identified as Amritpal Singh, the accused was also wanted in another case related to the recovery of 33-kg of heroin from Jammu and Kashmir. He is said to have been a part of the Pakistan-linked heroin smuggling racket.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said “army deserter” Amritpal Singh Fauji, a resident of Kasel village in Tarn Taran, had been on the run since August when his accomplice Sartaj was arrested from the Jammu bus stand with 33-kg heroin.
“The cartel has international connections as it is being led by a fugitive, identified as Amrit Pal Singh Baath of Mianpur village in Tarn Taran, operating from Dubai. He is a gangster-cum-drug smuggler against whom 15-20 cases have been registered in various police stations of the state, including two murder cases.
The DGP said counter-intelligence teams, acting swiftly on reliable inputs, laid a special naka at the canal bride of Kangniwal village in Jalandhar and arrested Amritpal Fauji after recovering 200-gm heroin from his possession. “Further investigation resulted in recovery of 12.4-kg heroin from pinpointed location at the link road from Tarn Taran to Jodhpur village as revealed by the accused. Police teams have also impounded a motorcycle (PB08EL5952) on which Amritpal Fauji was travelling,” he added.
Jalandhar AIG (counter-intelligence) Navjot Singh Mahal said the accused revealed that he and his associate procured a drug consignment of 50-kg heroin from Akhnoor sector last month of which 33-kg heroin haul was with his associate Sartaj, who was arrested by the J&K Police.
Following the arrest of his accomplice, Amritpal Fauji concealed the remaining heroin at an abandoned location, he said, adding that further investigations were on to establish their backward and forward linkages.
A case was registered under Sections 21 and 29 of the NDPS Act at State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) police station in Amritsar on September 13.
