The arrested accused have been identified as Agyapal Singh, the alleged kingpin and his two associates Ranjit Singh and Sandeep Singh.
Published Aug 24, 2023 | 1:23 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 24, 2023 | 1:23 PM
Officials with the seized drug packets. (Supplied)
The Anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) of Punjab Police busted a major cross-border drug smuggling module by arresting three for smuggling 41 kg of heroin through a riverine route from Pakistan, on Wednesday, 23 August.
The police, acting on a tip-off, nabbed the accused from Mehimad Mandra village in Amritsar and recovered contraband smuggled via the Ravi River.
The arrested accused have been identified as Agyapal Singh, the alleged kingpin, and his two associates Ranjit Singh and Sandeep Singh of Panjgrain village of Amritsar district.
The police also confiscated four mobile phones from their possession. The trio hid contraband under the brick floor of a cattle shed which was dug up for hiding the drugs. According to STF, the accused took advantage of the flooded Ravi River to carry the consignment.
Elaborating on the details STF Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Mukhtiar Rai said, “Our team launched a special operation to break the nexus of smugglers operating with the help of Pakistani nationals for the supply of heroin from across the border.”
“During the operation, a tip-off was received that Agyapal had got a consignment of heroin from Pakistan, which had been kept in Mehimad Mandra village. Our team conducted a raid and 41kg of heroin was recovered,” he added.
He further added that Agyapal had been in touch with Pakistani drug smugglers and Intelligence agencies.
“The heroin recovered was smuggled via the Ravi River when the level of water increased recently. We are investigating the riverine route. The accused have confessed that five to six such consignments had already been smuggled from Pakistan. We are working to ascertain forward linkages of the accused,” Rai said.
A case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at the STF’s Mohali police station.
Meanwhile, Tarn Taran police arrested three persons in two separate instances and seized a total of 3.2 kg of heroin along with a pistol, two magazines, and 8 bullets besides ₹30 lakh of drug money from their possession.
