Drug racket busted, 150 kg poppy husk seized

In a major breakthrough, the Jalandhar rural police busted an inter-state drug smuggling racket, seizing 150 kg of poppy husk from a truck shown to be carrying Army goods. The vehicle, bound for Kapurthala, was intercepted near the Bidhipur railway crossing in Maqsudan, leading to the arrest of two individuals.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mangal Singh alias Manga, a resident of Fattudinga, and Jagdev Singh alias Jaggu, a resident of Buta village of Subhanpur, both from Kapurthala.

Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said that the operation was carried out by the CIA staff of Jalandhar rural under the supervision of DSP Surinder Pal, Kartarpur sub-division. Acting on a tip-off, a police team, led by Inspector Pushap Bali, in-charge of the CIA staff, intercepted the truck bearing the registration number PB10-HJ-2832. Upon inspection, 150 kg of crushed poppy husk, hidden among Army goods, was recovered from the vehicle.

A case has been registered under FIR No. 81 under Sections 15-C, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act at Maqsudan police station.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Mangal Singh and Jagdev Singh were working with a truck owner, Balwant Singh, to smuggle drugs from Jharkhand to Kapurthala. The accused used the guise of Army goods to avoid detection during inspections. The police have also contacted Army Intelligence for further investigations, given the use of Army-related documents in the smuggling operation.

The arrested individuals will be produced in a local court, and their remand sought to investigate their forward and backward linkages.