The Sangrur police have busted an alleged inter-state drug racket by arresting three smugglers and seizing 21.5 kg of opium worth `17 lakh from their possession.
The accused have been identified as Jagdeep Singh of Amarjit Colony, Ludhiana, Sardar Mohammad of Duggan Kalan village in district Hoshiarpur and Salim Mohammad of Gahilam village in district Nawanshahar. The accused have been booked under section 18/61/85 of the NDPS Act. Police have also registered a case against Rattan Singh of Rajasthan for allegedly selling opium to these smugglers.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Sangrur SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that the police in Sunam town of the district had got a tip-off that opium would be smuggled to Punjab from Rajasthan border in a truck laden with retail goods. Sunam Sadar police station incharge inspector Jatinder Singh stopped the truck (PB 10-DZ-0181) at a police naka and arrested the smugglers.
During the interrogation, the driver of the truck, Salim Mohammad said that the truck belongs to the APS transport company, Ludhiana, which transports retail goods from Mumbai to Ludhiana via Rajasthan. The SSP said that the police were also investigating the links of the truck owner with the drug mafia and teams have been formed to arrest Rattan Singh of Rajasthan, who had sold the opium to the truck driver.
The SSP said that this is the biggest recovery made in the past two decades by the Sangrur police. The district police have been working hard to put a complete check on the inter-state drug racketeers, who smuggle drugs from Rajasthan to Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}The SSP said that this is the biggest recovery made in the past two decades by the Sangrur police. The district police have been working hard to put a complete check on the inter-state drug racketeers, who smuggle drugs from Rajasthan to Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}During the interrogation, the smugglers revealed that the opium was supplied by Rajasthan-based Rattan Singh to be sold in Ludhiana. The smugglers are using heavy vehicles for drug smuggling, added the SSP. This is the second major haul of drugs by the district police within a fortnight as on January 29, they had busted an inter-state drug racket by arresting two smugglers and recovered about 3,700 kg of poppy husk from a truck coming from Rajasthan.