Amritsar, Aug 26 (Agency) In yet another major crackdown, the Amritsar Rural Police on Thursday morning seized around 17 kg heroin being smuggled from Jammu and Kashmir to Amritsar by a man, who was arrested from Madhopur in Pathankot district, along with a cab bearing Punjab registration number. The accused person has been identified as Ranjit Singh alias Sonu, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Colony Amritsar, who was using two specially designed and fabricated compartments fitted underneath the vehicle to smuggle the consignment, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said.
The DGP said, following the input, that Sonu was on the way to Amritsar via Pathankot, SSP Amritsar (Rural) Gulneet Singh Khurana immediately constituted special teams under the supervision of Majitha ASP Abhimanyu Rana and DSP Detective Amritsar Rural Gurinder Pal Nagra to nab the accused. “The police teams have successfully intercepted the car being driven by Sonu in Madhopur and recovered 16 packets of heroin, weighing 16.87 kg, concealed inside specially designed cavities beneath the vehicle,” Gupta said.
During his preliminary interrogation, Sonu revealed that he picked this consignment from Naushera area of J&K on the instructions of Ranjit Singh alias Rana of Patti in Tarn Taran (currently lodged in Faridkot Jail) and Malkeet Singh alias Laddu (lodged in Sri Muktsar Sahib Jail), said the DGP, while adding that Rana was the kingpin of this racket. An FIR under sections 21, 23/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Kathunangal Amritsar Rural police station. The development came few days after the Amritsar Rural Police foiled a major drug smuggling bid by Pakistan-based smugglers by recovering 39 packets of heroin, weighing around 41 kg, from the area of Panjgraian Border Outpost (BOP) of Amritsar. Since January 1, 2021 till now, Punjab Police have recovered around 400 kg heroin, 4 kg smack, 6 kg cocaine, besides recovering over 98000 injections and 1.44 crores intoxicant pills/capsules. Pertinently, the Punjab Police on July 5, 2021, had also busted a major drug supply chain with the arrest of four Afghan nationals and heroin seizure of 17 kgs, worth Rs 90 crore in the international market, from a unit in South Delhi.