Close on the heels of getting recovered big-hauls of heroin from ports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, Punjab Police have arrested an interstate drug smuggler, who was wanted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in 126 kg heroin case.
The arrested accused, identified as Rajbir Singh— a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Tarn Taran road, Amritsar — was into drug-peddling from a long time and had been living discreetly in a rented house in Chheharta area to evade arrest, said the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Thursday.
Yadav said that in an intelligence-led operation, the Police team of State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, has arrested Rajbir from Amritsar city area. “During investigations, the Police teams have also recovered 128 gm heroin and Rs 9.60 lakh drug money along with an electronic weighing machine from his Toyota Glanza car, which has also been impounded,” he said.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the accused drug-peddler Rajbir has been procuring heroin from his associate identified as Prabhjit Singh of Patti (Tarn Taran district), the DGP said, adding that in the month of March, both had also travelled to Jamnagar (Gujarat) in two separate vehicles including the impounded Toyota Glanza, to procure large consignment of heroin.
The DGP said that the role of Rabir, Prabhjit, and Rajwant came into the criminal case registered under NDPS Act by ATS Ahmedabad, where a fisherman, identified as Ameen of Dwarka Gujarat, was arrested for collecting consignment of 126 kg heroin supplied via sea route on March 2, 2022.
However, the drug consignment was not recovered, the Gujarat Police had already arrested Rajwant Kaur (Rajbir’s mother in law), who is a resident of Guru Nanak Colony in Amritsar. Ameen, who owned a small fishing boat, was in contact with a Pak smuggler.
Meanwhile, FIR, dated July 27, 2022, has been registered under sections 21, 25, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station State Special Operation Cell Amritsar. Further investigations are being carried out to unearth the entire network of drug suppliers, dealers and buyers.