Drug syndicate kingpin arrested in Amritsar

Saheb Singh was the main supplier and coordinator of the inter-state syndicate; he controlled the supply of heroin from Punjab and accepted online payments directly into his bank account, bypassing local peddlers, police said

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai Police have arrested the alleged kingpin of a drug trafficking syndicate operating between Punjab and Maharashtra following an operation spanning several months. The accused, Saheb Singh alias Sabha Joginder Singh, was apprehended in Amritsar on January 26 with heroin worth ₹7 lakh, officials aware of the matter told Hindustan Times.

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Saheb Singh was the main supplier and coordinator of the inter-state syndicate; he controlled the supply of heroin from Punjab and accepted online payments directly into his bank account, bypassing local peddlers, police officers said.

“Tracing the kingpin proved challenging as he frequently changed mobile phones to evade surveillance. He had managed to escape thrice when special police teams went to Punjab to arrest him,” an officer working on the case said, requesting anonymity.

The police were finally able to trace and apprehend Singh via a detailed technical analysis of four mobile phones used by him, taking the total number of accused arrested in the case to 28. Narcotics worth ₹3.5 crore had been seized from the arrested accused, police said.

On January 21 this year, Kulmit Singh who allegedly supplied the narcotics in Navi Mumbai was arrested by Navi Mumbai police. Kulmit, Saheb Singh’s accomplice, routed supply to the city via truck drivers, police said.

Saheb SIngh has several cases under the NDPS Act registered against him at the Tarn Taran and Gharinda police station in Punjab, officers said.