4 held in Punjab with 27 kg heroin, foreign-made pistol

Chandigarh: Punjab Police’s Counter Intelligence (CI), Amritsar, has foiled a cross-border smuggling module with the arrest of four people from whom 27 kg of heroin and one sophisticated foreign-made pistol along with three cartridges were recovered, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.

Those arrested have been identified as Vishal Singh, alias Shalu, Manpreet Singh, alias Sunny, and Smartpreet Singh, all three residents of Amritsar; and Karan Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran. Apart from recovering narcotics and weapons, police teams have also impounded their motorcycle and a car, which were being used for smuggling activities.

DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were operating in coordination with a Dubai-based operative and cross-border smugglers.

After retrieving the consignments of drugs and illegal arms, the accused were to further supply them on the instructions of their handlers, he said. The DGP said the probe has also revealed that the arrested accused were using encrypted communication platforms to contact their handlers, apparently with the intention of evading detection by the police.

Sharing operational details, he said that CI Amritsar teams had received specific information that suspects Vishal, Manpreet, Smartpreet and Karan had obtained a huge drone-dropped consignment of heroin and arms from the Indo-Pak border area of

Attari, and were supposed to deliver the consignment to some other party in the area near Adda Khasa in Amritsar.

Acting swiftly, police teams conducted a raid and intercepted them near the bus shelter at Khasa, he said, adding that during their search, 27 kg heroin and one sophisticated foreign-made .30 bore PX5 pistol along with three cartridges were recovered from their possession.

The DGP said further investigation is underway to establish the linkages and identify all people involved in the smuggling network.

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