Father-son duo held with 350gm heroin in Ludhiana

20gm heroin was seized from the duo’s house; sub-inspector says to date, five cases of drug peddling have been registered against the father at various police stations

Amid the lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, a special task force (STF) team arrested a father-son duo and recovered 350gm heroin from them on Wednesday.

Nachhatar told the police that he took to the crime as he was unemployed. (Representative photo)

The accused were identified as Nachhatar Singh, 42, and his son, Sonu Singh, alias Sonu, 22, of Barnala.

A case under Sections 21, 29, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered at the STF police station in Mohali.

Sub-inspector Jaspal Singh said the white Maruti Suzuki Celerio car was checked on the basis of a tip-off. “The accused were travelling towards Ludhiana in the car when they were nabbed at a check point installed in Dadahur on Raikot-Barnala Road,” he said, adding that 330gm heroin was recovered from the dashboard of the car.

“Later, after questioning the accused, the STF team conducted a raid at their house and recovered 20gm heroin from there,” he said.

‘TOOK TO CRIME AS HE WAS UNEMPLOYED’

Nachhatar, who has been peddling drugs for the past three years, told police that he took to the crime as he was unemployed, Singh added.

“He used to purchase drugs from a Barnala-based resident and then sell it to his customers. His son got involved in the crime along with him around two years back,” the sub-inspector said, adding that to date, five cases of drug peddling have been registered against Nachhatar at various police stations.

“The investigation is on. The accused will be questioned and we will try to trace more persons involved with them,” said the sub-inspector.