CHANDIGARH/HISAR: In a major catch, Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta on Saturday said Ranjeet Rana, alias Cheetah, who was wanted in the 532-kg heroin haul from Attari on the Indo-Pakistan border in June last year, was arrested in Haryana’s Sirsa town.
He was one of the biggest drug smugglers of India.
“Following up further on arrests of Hizbul operatives in J&K and Punjab, Punjab Police juggernaut moved further to nab Ranjeet of Amritsar, one of the biggest drug smugglers of India from Sirsa today,” Gupta tweeted.
Cheetah was wanted in the 532-kg heroin haul from Attari in June 2019.
{{/usCountry}}Cheetah was wanted in the 532-kg heroin haul from Attari in June 2019.
{{/usCountry}}In a joint operation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Punjab Police and their Haryana counterpart, Rana, the kingpin of the racket, and his brother Gagandeep were arrested from their hideout at Begu village in Sirsa.
STAYED AT BEGU VILLAGE FOR 8 MONTHS
Sirsa senior superintendent of police Arun Nehra said that Rana had links with the Hizbul Mujahideen and was involved in terror funding.
“Acting on a tip-off, the police swooped on a house at Begu village where he has been living with his family for the past eight months. He rented a room on the identification provided by his relative who belongs to Vaidwala village and has been identified as Gurmeet Singh, who is also wanted under the NDPS Act,” Nehra added.
HEROIN HIDDEN IN ROCK SALT CONSIGNMENTS
Ranjeet is suspected to have smuggled heroin and other drugs from Pakistan, camouflaged them in six rock salt consignments through the integrated check post at the Attari border, 30 km from Amritsar, he said.
In the biggest seizure of narcotics coming from Pakistan in recent years, the Customs department on June 30, 2019, seized 532 kg of heroin from the Attari border.
The heroin was concealed in gunny bags of a rock salt consignment from Pakistan.
Rana was caught following recent arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen operatives in Amritsar.