Punjab Police arrests drug smuggler wanted by Gujarat ATS

Rajbir had also taken his mother-in-law Rajwant Kaur along to evade detection by police, the DGP said.He said a case was registered against Rajbir, Prabhjit and Rajwant under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act by ATS Ahmedabad, where a fisherman identified as Ameen of Gujarats Dwarka was arrested for collecting the consignment of 126kg heroin supplied via sea route on March 2, 2022.

Punjab Police has arrested an interstate drug smuggler, who was wanted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad in a 126kg heroin consignment case, officials said on Thursday.

The arrested accused identified as Rajbir Singh, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar in Amritsar, was into drug-peddling for a long time and had been living discreetly in a rented house in Chheharta area to evade arrest, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said.

The development came amid an ongoing war against drugs waged by Punjab Police to break the nexus of drug smugglers and dealers of different states who are pushing narcotics into the state, said an official statement here.

DGP Yadav said that in an intelligence-led operation, a police team of State Special Operation Cell Amritsar arrested Rajbir from Amritsar city area.

He said police have also recovered 128 gm heroin, Rs 9.60 lakh drug money, and an electronic weighing machine from his car, which has also been impounded.

Preliminary investigations reveal that Rajbir had been procuring heroin from his associate identified as Prabhjit Singh of Patti in Tarn Taran district, the DGP said, adding that in March, both had also travelled to Gujarat's Jamnagar in two separate vehicles, including the impounded car, to procure a large consignment of heroin. Rajbir had also taken his mother-in-law Rajwant Kaur along to evade detection by police, the DGP said.

He said a case was registered against Rajbir, Prabhjit and Rajwant under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by ATS Ahmedabad, where a fisherman identified as Ameen of Gujarat's Dwarka was arrested for collecting the consignment of 126kg heroin supplied via sea route on March 2, 2022. However, the drug consignment was not recovered, police said. The Gujarat Police had already arrested Rajwant, who is a resident of Guru Nanak Colony in Amritsar. Ameen, who owned a small fishing boat, was in contact with a Pak smuggler, they said.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under various provisions 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, said DGP Yadav.