Punjab Police arrest wanted in heroin haul in Mumbai
Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Nov, 2022 10:42 AM
Chandigarh, Nov 3 (IANS) In a crucial breakthrough, Punjab Police have arrested three high-profile drug smugglers, who were wanted in a 72.5-kg heroin haul from Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said here on Thursday.
The contraband, which was kept concealed in the door of the container containing white marble tiles, was jointly recovered by the teams of Punjab Police and ATS Mumbai in July. The container was imported by a Delhi-based importer.
Those arrested have been identified as Gurwinder Singh, alias Mehak (27), Gursewak Singh, alias Sewak (25), and Manjit Singh, alias Soni (34). The trio, arrested from Gurdaspur, were actively involved in a high-level trans-border and inter-state drug smuggling.
DGP Yadav said following inputs, Gurdaspur Police launched a special operation on Wednesday evening and arrested the accused after intercepting an SUV Mahindra Thar at the Amritsar-Jammu highway in the Dhariwal area of Gurdaspur.
The police have also recovered a revolver along with six cartridges of 9mm and live cartridges of .32 bore during the search of the vehicle, he added.
Earlier, the Mumbai ATS had managed to arrest accused Harsimran Sethi from Delhi, who ordered the consignment and his aide, Mohinder Singh Rathore, who was working as a clearing agent.
The DGP said during the investigation, the Mumbai ATS had nominated these three arrested persons, who were recipients of the container and went to Delhi to clear the consignment.
SSP Gurdaspur Deepak Hilori said accused Gurwinder Singh and Manjit Singh were also wanted by Amritsar Rural Police in an attempt to murder case in which they fired upon the police party of Amritsar Rural district in October 2020.
He said that further investigations are going on to unravel this network of drug smuggling in Punjab and other states.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased, whereas Rs 15,000 as immediate relief for the injured. He said free treatment would be provided to the injured.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday carried out his first Cabinet expansion by inducting five legislators, including second-time MLA Aman Arora, into his council of ministers. The expansion came in less than four months of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sweeping to victory in the Assembly elections by winning 92 seats of the 117 seats.
The police have so far managed to nab four of the accused, including one woman, who have been identified as Gurjant Singh (31), Navjot Singh (30), Satpal Singh (28) and Gurpreet Kaur (30).
The ambidextrous sharpshooter, identified as Ankit alias Chhota, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, was most desperate to commit the crime."He fired simultaneously from two pistols in his two hands," H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Special Commissioner (Special Cell), said during a media briefing.
With this the two-and-half year old, three-party Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government experiment has collapsed, barely hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ordered a floor test late on Tuesday night.
In a daze the victim handed over her gold locket and a pair of golden tops to the accused. When she regained her senses she called the police. Based on her complaint, the police registered a case under sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
