Notorious smuggler Sukhpreet among five held, Rs 6L, 300gm heroin recovered

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 9

Following the interrogation of two drug traffickers Jatinder Singh, a resident of Naushahera Dhalla, and Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Chahal village, the Amritsar (Rural) police arrested their five accomplices leading to the recovery of Rs 6 lakh drug money besides 300 gram of heroin.

The duo was arrested on August 6 with 1kg heroin. Their accomplices, who were arrested on their disclosure, included notorious drug smuggler Sukhpreet Singh, a resident of Jaintipura, a Hawala operator Ashok Kumar, a resident of Chowk Chabutra, and Raju, Gurpreet Singh and Rajbir Singh, residents of Waan Tara Singh in Tarn Taran. Another Sukhpreet’s accomplice Manpreet Singh, a resident of Abdal village, managed to flee from the spot.

Charanjit Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural) police, said while looking into the backward and forward links of Jatinder and Lovepreet, the police nabbed Sukhpreet and Ashok Kumar and seized Rs 6 lakh drug money and impounded their car (bearing registration number PB07-BY-6630). Their third accomplice Manpreet fled from the spot by dodging the police team.

“Sukhpreet and Manpreet used to smuggle contraband on the direction of the US-based notorious drug peddler Harbhej Singh, alias Javed. Harbhej has a number of criminal cases, including that of drug smuggling, registered against him. After coming out of jail, he managed to flee to the US,” the SSP said.

Has four criminal cases

Sukhpreet Singh has four criminal cases against him, including one of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, registered by the State Special Operation Cell in 2021 after seizure of at least 48 foreign-made pistols. The consignment was smuggled with the help of drones at that time to three different locations. The pistols were recovered from a car near the Kathunangal area. Sukhpreet’s name had cropped up during investigations. Sukhpreet was also wanted in a murder case in the Gate Hakima police station area. “We have informed the city police authorities in this connection,” said a police official.