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 an Innova cab bearing registration number PB01A6708.
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 1st January 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.
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 & fabricated compartments fitted underneath the
vehicle to smuggle the consignment, said Director General of Police (DGP)
Punjab Dinkar Gupta.
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 ASP Majitha
Abhimanyu Rana and DSP Detective Amritsar Rural Gurinder Pal Nagra to nab the
accused.
“The police teams have successfully intercepted the
Innova car being driven by Sonu in Madhopur and recovered 16 packets of heroin,
weighing 16.87Kg, concealed inside specially designed cavities beneath the
vehicle,” said DGP Dinkar Gupta.
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.
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FIR number 164 dated August 25, 2021 under sections 21,
23/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Police Station Kathunangal
Amritsar Rural.
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.