Punjab Police seizes 16 kg heroin from Gurdaspur

Chandigarh/Gurdaspur (Punjab) [India], July 3 : A day after the big haul of 16Kg heroin was recovered from Gurdaspur district, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Border Range Mohnish Chawla on Saturday said, "Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as a new origin for transit of drugs to Punjab".

"The investigations into the 16kg heroin recovery from Gurdaspur revealed that arrested accused persons have used National Highway (connecting Jammu to Punjab) to bring this consignment from neighbouring state Jammu by concealing it in specially designed compartments in two vehicles," he said, while addressing a virtual Press Conference.
According to the Information and Public Relations Department, Punjab, Gurdaspur district Police had arrested four suspects after recovering 16.80Kg heroin packed in 16 packets.
Those arrested have been identified as Manjinder Singh alias Manna (28), Gurdit Singh alias Gitta (35) and Bhola Singh (32), a trio of residents of village Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran, and Kuldeep Singh alias Givi alias Keepa (32) of Kazi Kot road in Tarn Taran, the release said.
A case has been registered under sections 21C, 27-A, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Dinanagar.
IGP Mohnish Chawla said that the Police have also booked the kingpin of this module identified as Malkit Singh of village Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran, who had sent his four aides to Jammu to retrieve this 16Kg consignment.
Malkit, who had earlier processed such consignments around five times in the past using the same kind of modus operandi, has already been facing three cases under the NDPS Act, he said, adding that the Police teams are on a manhunt to arrest Malkit.
The IGP said that the investigation has revealed a modus operandi related to interstate smuggling prevalent in Punjab these days, where kingpins used virtual numbers to communicate with Jammu-based Smugglers.
"This is the third such case of drug smuggling from Jammu side to Punjab that has come to fore in less than one year wherein smugglers used the same modus operandi," said IG Border Range.
Pertinently, the Pathankot Police had registered two such cases of heavy recovery of heroin in February this year, when around 12Kg of Heroin was recovered in the jurisdiction of Police Station Sujanpur, the release read.
Similarly, Amritsar Rural Police had recovered Rs 1.9 crore of drug money along with 21Kg of Heroin from the jurisdiction of Police Station Kathunangal in August last year.
Meanwhile, the same kind of modus operandi was also noticed during the investigation dated August 16, 2022, registered in Police Station Sadar Gurdaspur where secret cavities were found fabricated in vehicles allegedly to conceal drugs.
The police arrested three persons in this case and confiscated both vehicles. However, no recovery was made.