Police have busted a module of drug smuggling from Pakistan using drones and arrested four members with 3kg of heroin.
The arrested accused are Sukhbir Singh alias Sukh of Bhure Gill village, Ranjit Singh alias Raja of Goindwal Sahib, and Harpreet Singh alias Happy and Mangal Singh alias Manga of Naushehra Dhala village, which is notorious for drug smuggling from across the border, and Kuldeep Singh of Sarhali village.
With the arrest of the accused, the Tarn Taran police have also recovered 3kg of heroin allegedly smuggled by drones, ₹30.41 lakh of drug money, two pistols of .32 bore along with their 14 rounds, four cars, including a Toyota Fortuner, and two motorcycles.
According to police, the recovered vehicles were being used to ferry the smuggled heroin to various parts of India.
Addressing a press conference, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Tarn Taran, Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, said, “A few days ago, four accused were arrested after a brief encounter near Sursingh village of Bhikhiwind sub-division. At the time of the arrest, 1.7kg of heroin, a pistol and two motorcycles were also recovered from the accused. The accused were questioned during police remand.”
“During the questioning of the accused, our teams recovered four cars, which were being used for drug smuggling, and ₹9.67 lakh and ₹15.61 lakh of drug money from Sukh and Happy, respectively. We have also arrested one Kuldeep Singh of Sarhali Kalan village during Happy’s questioning. We have recovered a pistol and 1.398kg of heroin, and ₹5.13 lakh drug money from Kuldeep’s possession.”
{{/usCountry}}“During the questioning of the accused, our teams recovered four cars, which were being used for drug smuggling, and ₹9.67 lakh and ₹15.61 lakh of drug money from Sukh and Happy, respectively. We have also arrested one Kuldeep Singh of Sarhali Kalan village during Happy’s questioning. We have recovered a pistol and 1.398kg of heroin, and ₹5.13 lakh drug money from Kuldeep’s possession.”
{{/usCountry}}He said all the accused have been booked under various sections of the NDPS Act and the Arms Act at Bhikhiwind police station. “We have also initiated the process to track the movable and immovable assets of the accused,” he added.
Sources said police have also identified one more member of the module, who is said to be in contact with some Pakistan-based smugglers for the supply of heroin using drones.
“Our raids are on to nab the remaining members of the module,” the SSP said.
In the last four months, Tarn Taran police have recovered 40 kg of heroin.