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Chandigarh Police unearth cross-border drug smuggling ring, arrest 4
The discovery came after the arrest of two men, including the son of an assistant sub-inspector of Punjab Police, in July; they were caught with 108 gm amphetamine, commonly known as ice, and 70 gm heroin
The anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) of the Chandigarh Police has uncovered a cross-border drug smuggling racket being operated from Ferozepur jail.
The discovery came after the arrest of two men, including the son of an assistant sub-inspector of Punjab Police, in July. They were caught with 108 gm amphetamine, commonly known as ice, and 70 gm heroin.
Digging deeper, police have arrested four more members of the international drug syndicate, including a smuggler lodged in the Ferozepur jail, leading to the recovery 130 gm more heroin and ₹78 lakh drug money.
In July, police had arrested Shubham Jain, 28, of Sector 45, Chandigarh, and his supplier, Puneet Kumar, 24, of Ferozepur, whose father is serving as an ASI in Ferozepur. Kumar was also found in possession of an illegal .32-bore country made pistol and five live cartridges.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, superintendent of police (SP) Ketan Bansal said following the disclosure of Puneet, three drug smugglers — Pawan Preet Singh, 24, Ravinder Pal Singh, 31, and Chandan, 23 — all residents of Ferozepur, were arrested.
Ravinder led police to another smuggler, Jagjeet, alias Jagga, 33, who is lodged in Ferozepur jail and had been running the racket from there. Jagjeet was brought to Chandigarh on production warrant and also arrested.
Explaining the accused’s roles, Bansal said, “Chandan used to supply drugs to Puneet and his accomplice Pawan. Chandan is a tout of an Australia-based drug smuggler Simran and works on his directions. We recovered ₹78.38 lakh drug money and 107.52 gm heroin from Chandan, and 22.96 gm heroin from Puneet and Pawan.”
He added that Ravinder also supplied drugs to Puneet, who had already paid him around ₹5 lakh for multiple dealings: “Jagjeet was operating the entire racket from Ferozepur jail. He was in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and also in touch with hawala operators in Punjab.”
Jagjeet, according to police, is also facing seven criminal cases, including those for murder, attempt to murder and drugs.
Kingpin hiding in Australia, moving money through hawala
Police said the racket’s mastermind was Simran Singh, also hailing from Ferozepur, who was operating the syndicate from Melbourne, Australia.
“Simran is in contact with Pakistan-based smuggler Arif Dogar, who has been smuggling heroin using drones and plastic bottles left in river water that are collected by his accomplices in India. Chandan collected drug money and handed it over to hawala operators on Simran’s directions. Before he could hand over his latest haul of ₹78 lakh, he was nabbed,” SP Bansal said.
Simran was previously arrested by Mohali police in 2018 for carjacking. He had also snatched three vehicles at gunpoint from Panchkula. Police said all accused were using international WhatsApp and virtual numbers.
“The drug money was paid to Pakistani smugglers through hawala. We are hopeful of arresting more persons during further investigation,” the SP said.
