E-Paper
Punjab cops to leave for Mumbai to assist in probe of state-bound heroin seizure
Quantity of contraband swelled to 300kg from 135kg upon further search of container booked in of Tarn Taran youth’s name
The Punjab Police will send a team of its various units to Mumbai to assist in the investigation into the seizure of state-bound 300-kg heroin by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at a port near the country’s commercial capital last Thursday.
The team comprising senior officials of the state special operation cell (SSOC), special task force (STF), organised crime control unit (OCCU) and the Tarn Taran police will leave for Mumbai on Monday.
Initially, the DRI had seized 135-kg contraband from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Raigad district of Navi Mumbai but the quantity swelled to 300kg upon further search of the container booked in the name of Prabhjot Singh (25) of Chohla Sahib village of Tarn Taran.
Prabhjot, who has a godown in Amritsar and is involved in import business for the last four years, was arrested from his village on Thursday. The consignment, allegedly smuggled from Afghanistan via Iran, was declared as gypsum stone and talcum powder. It is one of the major narcotic seizures in recent times, it is learnt.
The 23-year-old earlier imported various goods from Pakistan and Afghanistan via the Attari-Wagah border, a police official said.
Also, teams of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and customs will investigate the case jointly, the police official said. “Our team will coordinate with the DRI and other central agencies to trace the local links of those behind smuggling of the contraband,” the official added.
The police have found that Prabhjot accumulated huge wealth in the last 4-5 years.
“His links have also been traced to a notorious family of Dhun Dhai Wala village in the disrtrict. One member of the family is already in jail in a 22-kg heroin seizure case. The accused was taken to Mumbai DRI team from Ludhiana on Saturday. He is likely to be brought back on Monday. Our team will also go to Ludhiana to question him,” said the official.
“We have also asked the revenue department to provide all details of the properties registered on the name of Prabhjit and his family members,” he added.
