Six days after busting a major inter-State drug networking racket along with Moga Police and seizing 72 quintals poppy husk packed in 180 bags hidden under raw bananas in a truck, Jalandhar counter intelligence wing and Anandpur Sahib police arrested kingpin Jagdev Singh, alias, Deban, of Moga’s Daulewala village on Sunday along with three accomplices.
AIG Counter Intelligence HPS Khakh told that his team was keeping a close vigil on the activities of absconded smugglers and received a specific tip-off about them which he immediately shared with Rupnagar Senior Superintendent of Police Swapan Sharma that these smugglers came back to
Punjab after few days of hideout, they are suspected to be in Sri Anandpur Sahib town.
Khakh said various teams of Anandpur Sahib Police alerted and one of police party intercepted a white Scorpio car and apprehend four persons namely Jagdev Singh and his accomplices Gurdev Singh of Kot Isse Khan, Gurwinder Singh alias Jindu, lakhwinder Singh alias Kaku from Daulewala village in Moga district.
AIG said that 25 grams of intoxicant powder had also been recovered from Jagdev Singh and a case under section 22, 61, 85 of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against four of them in Sri Anandpur Sahib police station in Rupnagar district.
Khakh said that during the preliminary investigation, it has come to notice that Jagdev was a big fish of poppy husk smuggling in Punjab and was involved in the drug trade since 1990.
Moreover, nearly 10 cases of NDPS Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were registered against Jagdev in different Police Stations of Punjab, he added.
He disclosed that a new trend has been witnessed during the interrogation of the accused that they are paying drug money through “hawala” operators of Punjab to their counterparts in Rajasthan and this link would also be investigated during interrogation as this is something dangerous.
“All of them would be taken on remand for further investigation regarding module of hawala racket and other accomplices,” he said.
Notably, on August 6, Jalandhar Counter Intelligence and Moga police had arrested two persons of this gang, who were smuggling poppy husk from Rajasthan to Punjab.
The cops had impounded a truck loaded with 180 bags of poppy husk.
Both accused were identified as Dharamjit Singh of landeke village in Moga district and Gurbir Singh of Rattian village in Moga district.