Drug peddler’s properties worth ₹83.22 lakh attached in Kaithal

The drug peddler, who is wanted in five cases in Punjab and Haryana, had purchased properties worth ₹83.22 lakh in Kaithal from narcotics sales, police said

The properties of a known drug peddler, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, were attached and his assets frozen in Kaithal district on Tuesday.

The properties of a known drug peddler, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, were attached and his assets frozen in Kaithal district. (HT Photo)

The accused, Gurmez Singh alias Gurmail of Dabankheri village, had purchased properties worth ₹83.22 lakh from the proceeds of drug peddling, police said.

A police spokesperson said, “On the request of the Haryana Police, a competent authority in New Delhi, passed orders to freeze the movable and immovable assets of the accused. The action was initiated under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, so that the accused is unable to sell, transfer or gift his property to anybody.”

Singh has five cases registered against him under the NDPS Act, of which two were registered in Kaithal district and one each in Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Patiala in Punjab.

The accused was sentenced to 10 years in prison and slapped with a fine of ₹1 lakh after 160-kg poppy husk was seized in Fatehabad district in 2002. A district court declared him proclaimed offender in 2020 after the police recovered over 226 kg poppy husk in the jurisdiction of the Guhla police station.