Drug, arms racket busted; 3 held, 6.5 kg heroin seized in Batala

The Batala police have dismantled a cross-border drug and illegal arms smuggling network, arresting three persons, including a juvenile.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said the police seized 6.5 kg of heroin, a .30-calibre pistol with six cartridges and Rs 1 lakh drug money from the accused. They also impounded a vehicle used in the operation. Those arrested have been identified as Nishan Singh of Mulianwal in Batala, Ravipal Singh of Raipur and a juvenile.

The operation stemmed from a thorough investigation into an extortion-related firing incident on March 30, under the jurisdiction of the Civil Lines police station in Batala. In that case two accused — Vansh and Sukhchain — were earlier arrested, leading to the seizure of two .30-bore pistols.

DGP Yadav highlighted a deep nexus between extortion, drug trafficking and illegal arms supply networks. “Preliminary investigations indicate that weapons were being supplied to operatives within the network,” he said.

DIG, Border Range, Sandeep Goel said the arrested accused were operating on instructions from a foreign-based handler. Efforts are on to trace all links and dismantle the entire module, he added.

Batala SSP Mehtab Singh said that during interrogation, Vansh and Sukhchain revealed that the weapons were supplied by Ravipal Singh and his juvenile accomplice. Police teams swiftly arrested the two, who confessed to coordinating the smuggling operations. Further disclosures by Ravipal led to the arrest of Nishan, who had received the consignment on directions from their overseas handler, the SSP added.

The police intercepted Nishan’s SUV near Kamla Devi Avenue in Amritsar, resulting in the seizure of the heroin, pistol, cartridges and drug money.