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 ATS Gujarat in 126Kg heroin case, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
The arrested accused identified as Rajbir Singh, resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Tarn Taran Road, Amritsar was into drug-peddling from long time and had been living discreetly in a rented house in Chheharta area to evade arrest.
The development came amid an ongoing decisive war against drugs waged by Punjab Police on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to break the nexus of drug smugglers and dealers of different states who are pushing drugs into the state.
Divulging details, DGP Gaurav Yadav said that in an intelligence-led operation, the Police team of State Special Operation Cell Amritsar has arrested Rajbir from Amritsar city area.He said that, during investigations, the Police teams have also recovered 128gm heroin and Rs 9,60,000 drug money along with electronic weighing machine from his Toyota Glanza car, which has also been impounded.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the accused drug-peddler Rajbir has been procuring heroin from his associate identified as Prabhjit Singh of Patti, District Tarn Taran, 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.
Rajbir had also taken his mother-in-law Rajwant Kaur along to evade detection by police, he added.He said 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 126Kg heroin supplied via sea route on March 2, 2022.
However, the drug consignment was not recovered, the Gujarat Police had already arrested Rajwant Kaur (Mother in Law of Rajbir), 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 No. 21 dated 27.07.2022 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.