Two persons arrested with opium

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8

Two persons were arrested with 2 kg of opium by the Jalandhar (rural) police at a naka today. The duo was running an inter-state trade by peddling opium.

Mukesh Sharma of Gram Tepa village, police station Tikari, district Gaya (presently resident of Karol Bagh, Ladhewali Road, Jalandhar) and Navjot Singh of Parjian, police station Sultanpur Lodhi, district Kapurthala, were arrested by the police for possessing the opium.

A case under Section 18 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Lambra police station, Jalandhar (rural), against Mukesh Sharma, while a case under Section 18 of the NDPS Act, police station Lambra, district Jalandhar (rural), has been registered against Navjot Singh.

SSP, Jalandhar (rural), said this morning ASI Narinder Rall, along with a police party, laid a naka on the Rampur road for checking anti-social elements.

During preliminary investigation, one of the arrested persons revealed that he was a resident of Bihar and used to bring latex derived from the poppy plant from Jharkhand and further prepared opium which he supplied in Punjab.

He said for the purpose of supplying the opium, he had kept taxi driver Navjot Singh with him, and had also taken a house on rent of Rs 7,000 in Karol Bagh, Ladhewali Road, Jalandhar. Similarly, ASI Gurmej Singh arrested Navjot Singh from near Nizran Gate while he was driving his Toyota Etios car, bearing registration No. PB08-DQ-4111, and his search led to the recovery of 1 kg of opium.

During preliminary investigation, Navjot revealed that he was employed as a driver at the Dhadda taxi stand. At the taxi stand, he came in contact with Mukesh Sharma where they became friends and the duo eventually developed business of bringing opium from Bihar and selling it in Punjab. They revealed that they had smuggled a large quantity of opium in many areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Mukesh Sharma (31), who has studied still class VI, worked as a driver at a taxi stand for about 10 years and there came in contact with Navjot Singh. He started smuggling opium from Jaharkhand to Punjab and Navjot Singh also joined him in the business. Meanwhile, Navjot Singh (23) who is a graduate, is a resident of Parjian village, PS Sultanpur Lodhi, district Kapurthala and owns a Toyota Etios Car. He works as a taxi driver. The police remand of the arrested persons is being sought from the court.