140 kg poppy husk smuggling bid foiled

Our Correspondent

Abohar, May 29

The Rajasthan police foiled a bid of drug peddlers, who were allegedly intending to smuggle 140 kg of poppy husk into Ludhiana on Thursday.

The accused—trucker Nishan Singh (35) of Mughal Majra, Kuldeep Singh (44) of Kanpura, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Harjinder Singh (39) of Gondara village in Faridkot’s Jaito—were arrested.

Bhanipura police station incharge Malkit Singh and his team were patrolling on the Sardarshahar road late Wednesday evening when they signalled a truck to stop. Occupants of the vehicle produced goods career receipt and claimed they were transporting bags of wheat to Ludhiana. However, on checking, 7 bags of poppy busk hidden under the bags of wheat, weighing 140 kg, were seized.

SHO Malkiatt Singh said preliminary investigation indicated that the contraband was arranged from Chittorgarh and was to be delivered at Ludhiana. “We are examining phone calls of the accused,” the SHO added.

The Sriganganagar police today nabbed two persons, who had reportedly managed to escape with their poppy husk-laden canter about 4 months ago.

The accused—Manjit Singh of Bajuwala and Sukhpal Singh of Ramsinghpur—have been sent to four-day police custody.

In January, the accused travelling in a canter were intercepted near Raziasar and 327 kg of poppy husk was seized from them.

After interrogation, they revealed the names of their accomplices—Kalu Ram, Vijay and Baljit—who have been arrested.