Day after, drug trail leads police to Ludhiana-based hawala trader

A day after the arrest of a drug peddler with 2.124 kg of heroin, the police have made a significant breakthrough by arresting a Ludhiana-based hawala trader in this connection.

The police recovered Rs 15 lakh of hawala money from his possession. The man was identified as Gurcharan Singh alias Channa, (62) a resident of Karam Colony located on Tajpur Road in Ludhiana.

The police had yesterday nabbed Mantej Singh (27) of Burj village in Tarn Taran.

Sharing details, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said during an in-depth investigation, police unearthed a connection with drug money to Ludhiana-based hosiery trader Gurcharan Singh.

“He was linked to drug smugglers based in Afghanistan. The accused was allegedly involved in exporting hosiery goods to Afghanistan, and in return, was receiving hawala money (drug proceeds) from various parts of Punjab and Delhi,” said the Police Commissioner. He has been nominated in the case, and arrested from bus stand area, he added. The drug proceeds were confiscated upon his disclosure.

During interrogation, Bhullar said Gurcharan Singh alias Channa revealed that he established a firm named Micky Traders Company, Ludhiana, in 2021, specialising in exporting women’s hosiery goods to Kabul, Afghanistan. Over time, he developed links with Afghan drug suppliers, and upon their instructions, personally collected drug money from Amritsar, Ludhiana and various locations in Delhi. He said in exchange, he would export women’s hosiery goods to Afghanistan, accepting 10 per cent of the transaction value in his bank account or via Google Pay, while 90 per cent of the money was received through hawala transactions.

He said Gurcharan Singh was also using the hawala money (drug proceeds) to facilitate a network of weapons and drugs smuggling by smugglers and gangsters.

The police have obtained his remand for further interrogation. His bank accounts would be scrutinised and financial transactions tracked, he said.