Chandigarh, June 9
The Punjab Police has seized 23 kg heroin in four days (June 6-9, 2014) and arrested five top druglords in operations carried out in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar and Patiala which has uncovered inter-state and international drug trafficking routes. Following-up on the arrests of druglords in the state, police parties have been dispatched outside Punjab to nab the absconding associates of the arrested druglords. The chain of one cartel busted by the Jalandhar police starts from one “Bagga Chairman” of Lahore and culminates at one “Anaten” of Sri Lanka (based in Delhi), with several Afghanis in various links. Further investigations in this direction are continuing.
Disclosing this here today, Mr. Gaurav Yadav, IGP/Counter Intelligence, Punjab said that seizure of another 5 kg heroin was effected today by the Amritsar Police Commissionerate, after recovery of 1 kg heroin on June 6, 2014. These seizures come on the heels of seizure of 13 kg heroin on June 6, 2014 by district Tarn Taran, along with INR 36 lakh, four small weapons, 20 cartridges & 1 Pak SIM, and, seizure of 4 kg heroin on June 7, 2014 by district Jalandhar Rural with arrest of five smugglers and exposure of three supply lines, alongwith INR 40 lakh and three cars. On June 6, 2014 the Amritsar Commissionerate had arrested two smugglers and seized 1 kg heroin from them, besides two small weapons, 1 Hyundai I-20 car no. PB-05U 2020, 14 cartridges and INR 11,000/-. Seizure of over 3,000 kg precursor chemicals pseudoephedrine has been effected in district Patiala, he added.
Mr Yadav said that the following was the gist of number of arrests and recoveries made with arrest of big drug smugglers from June 6 to June 9, 2014:
Name of Unit
|
Number of inter-state/international smugglers arrested
|
Recovery of drugs
|
Other recoveries
|
Amritsar
|
04
|
6 kg heroin
|
1 Hyundai I-20 car, 1 motorcycle, 2 pistols, 14 cartridges and INR 11,000
|
Patiala
|
02
|
3008.54 kg pseudoephedrine,
2 kg intoxicating chemical
|
02 luxury cars
|
Jalandhar Rural
|
05
|
4 kg heroin
|
INR 40 lakhs
03 luxury cars
|
Tarn Taran
|
01
|
13 kg heroin
|
INR 36 lakh
4 foreign-made small weapons, 20 cartridges, 1 Pak SIM, 01 vehicle
|
Out of the 12 persons above, the following are the kingpins of drug trafficking:
(i) Surinder Kumar r/o Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
(ii) Ajit Singh @ Jita r/o village Jaitowali, district Jalandhar
(iii) Varinder Singh Sandhu r/o Abohar (Canada-based)
(iv) Gurjit Singh r/o Rasoolpur, district Tarn Taran
(v) Harjinder Singh @ Mohni r/o Bollian, district Amritsar
The others arrested are their associates. The druglords were leading an affluent lifestyle using luxury cars, single digit cell phone numbers and have a penchant for flashy clothes and branded items. They had amassed property and built the palatial houses using drug money. Their property details are being verified and process will be initiated to freeze and confiscate the ill-gotten moneys from the drug trades as provided in section 68-F of the NDPS Act, 1985.
The IGP/CI revealed that developing the information gleaned from the ongoing operations, police party of Amritsar Commissionerate today arrested the following two persons:
(i) Harjinder Singh @ Billa s/o Waris Singh r/o village Mandiran wala, PS Ramdas, district Amritsar
(ii) Harjinder Singh @ Mohni s/o Kashmir Singh r/o village Bollian, PS Ajnala, district Amritsar
The preliminary questioning of arrested persons has revealed that they were member of a top drug trafficking cartel and were transporting a consignment of 5 kg heroin when nabbed by the police. They had procured this consignment from the international Indo-Pak border from the J&K sector and it was meant for supply to the international market.
He further said that on June 7, 2014 police party of district Jalandhar Rural had exposed three different heroin supply lines and arrested five drug smugglers in an operation resulting in recovery of 4 kg heroin, INR 40 lakhs and 3 cars. The heroin was meant for transportation to metropolitan cities outside the state of Punjab. One UP-based smuggler Surinder Kumar s/o Angal Lal r/o Katra Chand Khan, Bareilly, UP was arrested with 1.75 kg heroin and INR 15 lakhs while travelling in Tata Indica Car bearing a Delhi registration no. DL-3CAF 2432.
This operation has busted different supply lines and also provided valuable clues about smuggling of heroin to UP, Sri Lanka and the international market. The investigations have revealed involvement of Surinder Suniara r/o Sultanwind in this drug cartel. Surinder is absconding in a case of seizure of 115 kg heroin in Uri district of J&K and is an associate of a notorious Pakistan trans-border smuggler “Bagga Chairman”, he added.
He pointed out that in an intelligence-based operation, police party of district Tarn Taran had intercepted Nishan Treno no. PB-02DX 6170 on June 6, 2014 and arrested Gurjit Singh s/o Inderjit Singh r/o Rasoolpur and recovered 13 kg heroin, 4 foreign-made small weapons, 20 cartridges, INR 36 lakhs and 1 Pak SIM. The arrested person was a member of the notorious Gurjant Singh @ Bholu gang of criminals and drug smugglers and was operating in tandem with Vicky Kapoor of village Havelian. His interrogation has revealed vital clues about the supply line of heroin and illegal weapons from Punjab to other states, including metropolitan cities Delhi and Mumbai. Operations have been launched to nab Vicky Kapoor, Gurjant Bholu and other gang members.
The IGP/CI said that Punjab Police has cracked open yet another synthetic drug trafficking cartel with the arrest of NRI Varinder Singh Sandhu and his associate Bikramjit Singh @ Pappi by district Patiala on June 3, with recovery of 3008.54 kg precursor chemical pseudoephedrine, 2 kg intoxicating chemical and 2 vehicles. Varinder Singh Sandhu is an NRI with Canadian address at 3296, Sparow Drive, Abbotfford, BC and has established a pharmaceutical factory named Mefro Organic Limited in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh. Varinder Singh Sandhu originally belongs to Abohar and was the lynch-pin of an international drug trafficking racket which supplied synthetic drug ICE (M-amphetamine) and its precursor chemicals ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, ketamine etc. to the international markets in Canada after diversion of the precursors from his Una factory. The pharmaceutical factory has been established in 2009 and earlier Varinder Singh Sandhu was involved in providing 50 kg M-amphetamine to Sandeep Singh, a Canadian citizen. The two arrested persons are on police remand till June 10, 2014
He said that the arrested drug smugglers were leading lavish lifestyles, used luxury cars, single digit cell phone numbers, flashy clothes etc. Both the vehicles seized in the busting of the synthetic drug racket have single digit numbers ending in 0001, as also one of the cell phones being used by the smugglers. Luxury vehicles have been recovered from the heroin smugglers arrested in Tarn Taran and Jalandhar Rural as well. The questioning of arrested persons has revealed opulent and flashy lifestyles.
He said that the operational information obtained from the seizures of heroin and precursor chemicals in different operations across the state was being developed and police parties have been dispatched to conduct raids in Punjab and outside the state. The preliminary questioning of the arrested drug smugglers have revealed that they are top-notch smugglers of different drug cartels which were supplying drugs from Punjab to other states in the country, including UP, Delhi, Mumbai etc. and also to the international drug market in Canada.
He said that the Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police has been co-ordinating and liaisoning with other states and providing support to the field units. Further investigations are ongoing.
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