Heroin, pistol packets airdropped by drone seized in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Feb, 2023 12:35 PM
Photo courtesy of IStock.
Chandigarh, Feb 10 (IANS) Punjab Police in a joint operation with the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered a parcel containing three packets of heroin, weighing 3 kg, and 0.30 bore pistol along with magazine and five cartridges from the border area in Tarn Taran.
The consignment was airdropped by Pakistan-based smugglers using a drone from across the border.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on information provided by a civilian on hearing drone movement near Indo-Pak border in the Khemkaran area on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, police teams immediately shared the pin-pointed inputs with the BSF and jointly launched a combing operation in the area, which was within the radius of 1 km from the Indo-Pak border.
"On deep checking of the surrounding fields, police and BSF teams have recovered the consignment of 3 kg heroin and a pistol along with ammunition from the area of Mianwal," he said.
The development came a day after the police arrested a juvenile and recovered 15 packets of heroin, weighing 15 kg, and Rs 8.40 lakh drug money from his possession in Amritsar.
This consignment was also airdropped by Pakistan-based smugglers using a drone and the accused was going to deliver after retrieving the parcel from the border area of Kakkar village in Amritsar.
The arrested have been identified as Jaskaran Singh, lodged at Sub Jail in Goindwal Sahib, and Rattanbir Singh, who is out on bail. Police recovered 10 foreign-made pistols, including five .30 bore (made in China) and five 9mm (made in the US) along with eight magazines from both of them, besides a mobile phone concealed by Jaskaran Singh in his barrack.
The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh, alias Happy. The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh, alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
A police officer said that the narcotic substances were recovered from several soap cases kept in hidden chambers in an 18-wheel truck. The police have arrested the driver Hannan Ali. The vehicle was coming from Manipur and the consignment was most probably to be delivered in Guwahati.
Delhi Police had sought the custody of the arrested persons, which was granted by a duty magistrate on Tuesday. The four persons were arrested on Sunday night. Recently, a fresh case under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was lodged by the Delhi Police against the members of PFI, which was banned for five years by the Centre last week.
Punjab Police have arrested 5,824 drug smugglers, including 916 big fish, since July 5, Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said here on Tuesday. He said 203 kg heroin was recovered. Additionally, 147.5 kg heroin was recovered by Punjab Police from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 350 kg in just three months.
Farmers under the aegis of Kisan Mazdur Sangarash Committee (KMSC) held protest and rail roko prorgramme at 17 different places in Punjab on Monday to mark the anniversary of Lakhimpur Kheri incident. It may be noted that 8 persons including four farmers had died during a protest in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, 2021.
