Ice-cream vendor held with 1kg opium in Ludhiana

STF says the accused used to procure drugs from Rajasthan and sell it among the addicts; sent to one-day custody

The special task force (STF) on Monday night arrested a 20-year-old ice-cream vendor for drug peddling and recovered 1kg opium from his possession from Tibba Road.

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The accused has been identified as Satya Narayan Naik alias Sattu of Chittorgarh in Rajasthan.

Ludhiana STF in-charge Inspector Harbans Singh said the task force arrested the accused from Star City Colony on Tibba Road following a tip-off.

“The STF had received information that the accused was coming from Gopal Nagar to Tibba Road for delivering the opium,” he said.

“The STF nabbed him from a checkpoint and recovered opium from his possession,” he added.

The inspector said the accused has confessed to having procured drugs from Rajasthan for selling it among the addicts.

“He has been smuggling drugs for the past six months. He was an ice-cream vendor in Jalandhar,” he added.

A first information report (FIR) under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against the accused at Tibba police station.

The STF produced the accused in a court on Tuesday from where he was remanded to one-day STF custody for questioning.

The inspector said that police were probing the previous criminal record of the accused.