Student among 3 arrested with 4.5 kg of opium

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 29

The police arrested three persons, including a student of BA second year, and seized 4.5 kg of opium from the truck they were travelling in near the Nakodar road, Jandiala, today.

The suspects have been identified as Gurmel Singh (48) of Fatehgarh Sahnewali village, Beant Singh (34) of Dalianwali in Mansa district and Sultan Singh (18) of Rasoolpura village in Rajasthan.

While addressing mediapersons, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said inspector Resham Singh, head of Jandiala police post, at a naka near a T-point on the Nakodar road in Jandiala and stopped a truck (bearing registration No. PB05-T-9920) on suspicion and after searching it, the police team recovered 4.5 kg of opium and took the three occupants of the vehicle in their custody.

The Commissioner said in a preliminary interrogation, Gurmel revealed that he was the owner of the truck and had gone to Madhya Pradesh (MP) to deliver apples brought from Jammu and purchased opium from Agar town of the MP.

Gurmel, who is also a drug addict, also started smuggling drugs while transporting goods, he said.

“A drug case (smuggling of 400 gm of opium) has also been registered against Beant Singh in Gangapur city of Rajasthan. He was working as a combine harvester operator in the MP. Besides, Sultan, who is studying in BA second year at PG College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan got indulged in the drug smuggling due to his poor financial condition,” he said.

The suspects had been booked under Sections 18, 25, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and they would be interrogated further to know about persons to whom they were going to supply the contraband, Bhullar said.