Drug trafficker linked to Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang held with 4.7kg heroin

In an intelligence-based operation, the Counter Intelligence (CI) unit of Patiala arrested a drug trafficker and recovered 4.7 kg of heroin from his possession, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav confirmed on Tuesday.

The arrested accused has been identified as Vansh Kumar, a resident of Dalam village in Batala.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused is closely associated with Dubai-based Amritpal Singh, who is an associate of jailed gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.

The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to expose the full nexus.

Sharing operational details, AIG Counter Intelligence Patiala, Simrat Kaur, stated that acting on reliable intelligence, police teams intercepted a suspect who had reportedly received a heroin consignment from Tarn Taran and was en route to deliver it to an entity in Jalandhar. “The teams recovered the heroin from the suspect's possession and seized his mobile phone,” she said.

She added that the investigation revealed the accused was acting on the directions of Amritpal Singh, who is already facing multiple criminal cases, including those under the Arms Act, the NDPS Act, and Section 302 of the IPC. Furthermore, Amritpal has been declared a proclaimed offender by a local court in one of these cases.

The AIG said that investigations are underway to trace the supply chain, identify the recipients in Jalandhar. More arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days, she added.

In this regard, FIR No. 54 dated September 30 has been registered under Sections 21 and 29 of the NDPS Act at the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) police station, Amritsar.