Houses of two drug smugglers razed in Dinanagar village
The houses of two heroin smugglers were razed by the Water Resources Department in collaboration with the Gurdaspur police at Dida Sansian village here on Thursday. Residents were surprised why these very houses were not taken down when they were built in the first place itself.
The village is known to be a drug haven. Almost all the residents of the hamlet have been in the business of bootlegging and heroin smuggling for the last few decades.
The police said they received a report from officials of the Water Resources Department that the houses of Baljinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh were built on land belonging to the government. “They had written to the police that the houses had encroached upon government land and this aspect needs to be investigated. During investigations, we found that 10 and 12 NDPS cases were registered against both Baljinder and Lakhwinder, respectively,” said a police officer.
The police reached the spot in full strength. SSP Aditya, SP Jugraj Singh, DSP (Dinanagar) Rajinder Manhas and DSP (Gurdaspur) Sukhraj Singh were present when the operation started. Dinanagar SDM Jaspinder Singh Bhullar and Duty Magistrate Dalwinder Singh, too, were present.
Earlier, Irrigation Department officials had sent an eviction notice to 55 residents of this village asking them to vacate their houses. However, none of them have responded yet.
Eighty per cent of the houses in the village have been illegally constructed near a canal. Norms say construction cannot take place within 130 feet from the canal. These constructions can obstruct water flow, disrupt canal ecosystems and increase the risk of flooding.
“The Water Resources Department asked us to help them free the encroached land. On the way, we found that the houses belonged to smugglers and they had several NSDP cases clamped against them,” said an officer.
