The police remand of the four accused in the multi crore drug haul was extended till November 22, Friday. The accused includes the four associates of drug racket’s mastermind Jagdish Singh alias Bhola — Sarabjit Singh, Harpreet Singh, Baljinder Singh, and Ravinder Singh — who were also arrested with him from a dhaba near New Delhi.
“The four associates of Jagdish Bhola were produced in concerned courts on completion of the police remand and more remand for further investigations was urged. The courts have granted four more days of police remand up to November 22,” said Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardyal Singh Mann.
After busting the synthetic drug racket with the arrests of mastermind Bhola, his four associates, major suppliers Jagjit Singh Chahal, and Manjinder Singh Aulakh, Punjab police “is now focusing on the criminal activities of all accused and that of Jagdish Bhola as well”. Mann revealed that Sarabjit Saba, one of Bhola’s four associates, was a hardcore criminal who started his career as a master vehicle thief who stole hundreds of vehicles from Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and others.
“Gradually, Saba got involved in crimes with multiple modus operandi and became a major operative of drug racket controlled by Jagdish Bhola,” said Mann. He added that the police on Monday recovered four vehicles during further investigations focusing on Sarabjit Saba including Innova (PB 46-C 0004), Scorpio (PB 56-R 3156), Scorpio (PB 46-E 7097) and Verna (PB 25-D 2471).
Mann said that investigations have brought to light the innovative modus operandi adopted in stealing vehicles and then disposing them as bonafide vehicles by preparing fake papers. “Firstly, the gang conduct recce of vehicles which underwent accidents and are in totally irreparable condition. Then, they identify similar vehicles and steal them. After which they prepare forged papers using engine number or chassis number of completely damaged vehicle and sell stolen vehicles as bonafide ones by tampering with their engine or chassis number and preparing fake documents,” the SSP elaborated.
Maintaining that the whole racket was run with “active connivance” of officials of registration authorities, Mann said that the gang was so expert that they have their network across the country and used to steal vehicle of their choice and colour and leave them at parking lots from where, other gang member take them to get those for registration and sale.