Punjab Police arrests 4 Afghans with 17 kg heroin

Tribune News Service

Hoshiarpur, July 5

The Punjab Police claimed to have busted a drug supply chain with the arrest of four Afghan nationals and seizure of 17 kg heroin, worth Rs 90 crore in the international market, from a unit in South Delhi.

With the seizure, the Punjab Police have dug up another trail leading to Uttar Pradesh and a team has been sent there to unravel the network, said DGP Dinkar Gupta. The accused have been identified as Mujahed Shinwari, a native of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, and Mohammad Lal Kaker, Jannat Gul Kakar and Samiullah Afghan, all from the Kunduz region.

Apart from heroin, the police have recovered assorted chemicals and lab equipment, used in the manufacture of drugs, from the Neb Sarai unit. The arrests and seizure resulted from a lead uncovered by a Hoshiarpur police team, led by SSP Navjot Singh Mahal, which was investigating certain FIRs registered under the NDPS Act. The DGP said the Hoshiarpur police, on May 18, had recovered 70 gram heroin after arresting Pushpinder Singh, alias Tinku, and Amit Choudhary, who revealed they had procured the drug from Jasvir Singh Gajju of Jandiala in Amritsar and Sarabjeet Singh Sethi of Hoshiarpur.

Raids were conducted at Jasvir’s residence, where his accomplice Jagrup Kaur was apprehended by a police team with 100 gm heroin. A search of the house led to the recovery of 1.48 kg heroin, 500 gram gold and Rs 49.48 lakh in drug money.

On July 1, the police arrested Sarabjeet Sethi from Garhshankar and recovered 500 gm heroin from his possession. Sethi revealed he had procured the heroin from the Afghan nationals, who ran a heroin manufacturing factory in Delhi, and Imteyaz, who operated from Uttar Pradesh, said the DGP.

Acting on the lead, a police team from Hoshiarpur raided a location in Delhi and busted the manufacturing unit, from where a large quantity of heroin was being supplied to Punjab and other states. Another team has been sent to UP to bust Imteyaz’s module, said the DGP. A case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been filed at the Garhshankar police station.

Team sent to nab suspect in UP

• The cops got a lead that heroin was being procured from Afghan nationals, who ran a drug unit in Delhi, and Imteyaz, who operated from Uttar Pradesh
• A Punjab Police team has been sent to Uttar Pradesh to nab the suspect and unravel the international drug racket