The ongoing war against drugs waged on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann dealt a major blow to the inter-state narcotic network after Punjab Police in a joint operation with J&K Police apprehended a drug smuggler wanted in 30Kg Cocaine recovery case from Mullanpur Dakha in Ludhiana and seized ₹4.94 crores drug money stored in a bed, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Manjit Singh (24), a native of village Thandian in Banga, Nawanshahr and was currently living at Dashmesh Nagar, Mullanpur Dakha for last six months. Apart from seizing the drug money, police teams have also recovered one .32 bore revolver, 38 fake vehicle number plates of Punjab and Haryana, 44 grams gold, 385gram silver, a currency counting machine and a weighing machine from his possession, besides, impounding his Mahindra Scorpio car.
The development came close on the heels of the arrest of two Punjab-based drug smugglers identified as Hunny Basra of Palahi Gate Phagwara and Sarabjit Singh of village Ballan in Kartarpur with 30Kg cocaine from Jammu on October 1. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following reliable inputs about the involvement of accused Manjit Singh in 30kg cocaine recovery case, the teams of Counter Intelligence Ludhiana joined Jammu Police and launched a search operation in the state. “Police teams have arrested the accused Manjit Singh from his rented accommodation in Mullanpur Dakha after laying a trap,” he said.
He said that preliminary investigations revealed that accused Manjit Singh used to transport drugs in vehicles from the Jalandhar area after picking up the consignment from the two persons arrested by the Jammu Police, who used to go to Jammu to retrieve the consignment. Investigations are ongoing to establish backward & forward linkages, he added.
Sharing more details, AIG Counter Intelligence Simratpal Singh Dhindsa said that during questioning, the accused revealed that he used to transport the drug consignment from Jalandhar to other places and he has transported three consignments so far. It was also revealed that the accused Manjit Singh’s father identified as Satnam Singh is also into drug smuggling and was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in the NDPS case registered in Garhshankar, he said, while adding that Police teams are conducting raids to nab him.