E-rickshaw driver, son held with 1.3kg heroin in Ludhiana

The STF incharge said that the son was unemployed and a drug addict; he indulged in drug business to finance his addiction while his father helped him in peddling, the cop added.

The special task force’s (STF’s) Ludhiana unit has arrested an e-rickshaw driver and his son for drug peddling and recovered 1.33kg heroin and ₹1.52 lakh drug money from their possession.

The accused in the STF custody in Ludhiana on Thursday. (HT Photo)

According to STF officials, the recovered heroin could cost ₹6.65 crore in the international market.

The accused have been identified as Balwinder Singh, 64, of Dashmesh Colony on Noorwala Road, Jodhewal, and his son Joga Singh, 27.

Ludhiana STF incharge inspector Harbans Singh said they arrested the accused from the vicinity of their house following a tip-off on Wednesday. They were going to deliver the consignment, he added.

The STF incharge said that Joga was unemployed and a drug addict. “He indulged in drug business to finance his addiction. Balwinder Singh used to help him in peddling,” he added.

The accused are engaged in the drug trade for the past three years. The father-son duo also confessed that they used to procure the contraband from a man in Delhi.

The accused were produced in a court on Thursday, from where they were taken into two-day STF custody for questioning.