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Habit forming drugs worth Rs 2.1 crore seized in Ludhiana
As many as 28.88 lakh pieces of habit forming drugs, including pills, capsules, injections and cough syrups were confiscated.
In a joint operation, Special Task Force units of Ludhiana and Jalandhar seized habit forming drugs worth Rs 2.13 crore from a Ludhiana-based pharmacist and godown of a transport company on Wednesday and Thursday. Two persons were also arrested for alleged possession of the drug cache.
The accused have been identified, Manindervir Singh, 37, of New Patel Nagar in Haibowal Kalan and Surinder Kumar, 32, of Hoshiarpur district. Manindervir Singh owns a pharmacy at Chuhurpur Road while Surinder Kumar is manager of a Transport Nagar-based company JSK Logistic Transport.
As many as 28.88 lakh pieces of habit forming drugs, including pills, capsules, injections and cough syrups, were confiscated. The police also recovered Rs 6 lakh, which the accused had allegedly earned by selling drugs.
The STF officials are also suspecting that the accused had added banned drugs in the tablets. To ascertain this, samples of tablets have been sent for testing to a forensic science laboratory in Kharar.
Punjab inspector general (IG, STF) Pramod Ban said the action was taken following a tip-off. “The STF had set-up a checkpoint at Chuharpur Road in Haibowal where a Toyota Innova car was asked to halt. When searched, the STF recovered 4.80 lakh tablets of habit forming drugs and ₹6 lakhs from the vehicle. Manindervir Singh was arrested on the spot,” said Ban.
When interrogated, the accused told the police that he has stocked more such tablets at his house and godown of JSK Logistic Transport, said the IG. “Soon both the places were raided. From Manindervir’s house 13 types of habit forming tablets, capsules, injections and cough syrups were recovered. At the godown Surinder Kumar was arrested and more drugs were confiscated,” added Ban.
The IG said these tablets could be sold only to a person with a doctor’s prescription. “Manindervir used to procure these pills through a middleman, Naval Kishor of Agra, from an Agra -based pharmaceutical company. Kishor used to send the drug consignments through Agra-based Jodhpur Golden Transport Company to JSK Transport Company,” he added.
The IG also expressed his surprise on the fact that tough Manindervir was selling drugs without documents, he was never arrested. “The accused had constructed a store room on the first floor of his house where he used store the habit forming drugs,” he informed.
The police are scrutinising the bank accounts and properties of the accused persons. The STF is now trying to identify other persons involved with the duo. A team have also been sent to nab the owners of the Agra-based pharmaceutical, and transport company.
A case under sections 21/61/85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act has been registered against the accused at Haibowal police station.
