Conduit of two drug smugglers arrested in Tarn Taran district

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 25

The Tarn Taran police have nabbed Gurdeep Singh, alias Gopi, an alleged conduit of the two smugglers — Jora Singh and Ranjit Singh, alias Rana — arrested along the India-Pakistan border yesterday.

In 7-day custody

Jora and Rana, arrested on Thursday with 13 kg heroin along the IB, were produced in a Tarn Taran court, which remanded them in 7-day police custody.

Gopi, a resident of Sarai Amanat Khan village, used to supply heroin sneaked in from across the border by Jora and Rana to Pawandeep Singh. The latter is yet to be arrested.

The police had confiscated 13 kg heroin near border outpost (BO) Rattoke in Khemkaran following information provided by the two.

SSP Dhruman Nimbale said raids were on to arrest Pawandeep. Jora and Rana were produced in a local court, which remanded them in seven-day police custody, he said.

The SSP said Jora came in contact with Rana when they were lodged in an Amritsar jail in 2014-15. They planned to join hands in smuggling drugs. After Jora got bail from the High Court in 2017 after four years of imprisonment, he stayed in regular touch with Rana once he too got out on bail. They told interrogators they were in contact with six Pakistan-based smugglers and had brought a number of cross-border consignments.

They did not have any ancestral property but purchased expensive houses, cars, etc, over the past seven years through drug trade, investigations revealed.

The SSP said Jora had some land on both sides of the fencing near his native Mehadipur village. He used to collect the contraband dropped by Pakistan smugglers between pillars or thrown into fields inside the fencing. They chose areas that were farther from the fencing gates and close to the border to evade BSF jawans.

Details of Jora, his brother and labourers had been sought from the

BSF for further investigation, he added.

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