Drug trail leads to Pak: DGP

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 16

The police have traced links of two prominent smugglers with Pakistan-based agencies, a police release said on Sunday

Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said after the interrogation of gangster Sukhpreet Budda and arms supplier Ashish, the police had found that their two key aides — Jagdeep Singh, alias Jagga, and Gurvinder Singh, alias Pehalwan — had a nexus with operators in Pakistan. Both were arrested three days ago.

Pakistan SIM cards were recovered from Jagga and Pehalwan, who are residents of Kot Dharam Chand Kalan village in Jhabal, Tarn Taran, according to a police spokesperson.

The accused were arrested and one-kg heroin was seized in a joint operation of the Organised Crime Control Unit and Mohali police on February 13.

Jagga and Pehalwan had been evading arrested for the past five years by operating as transporters in their own Dhillon Transport Company, with a transport route spanning from New Delhi to Madhya Pradesh. They had reportedly set up their own empire with the drug money.

Investigation so far has revealed that the duo had received a large quantity of heroin and fake Indian currency from Pakistan through various routes via different modes. They were wanted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Rajasthan Police and Punjab Police in cases related to receiving huge consignments of heroin from Pakistan.

The investigation has uncovered big money transactions in their bank accounts, said the spokesperson, adding that the initial interrogation had revealed that they had received drug money from Pakistan dealers via hawala operators.

Jagga had been involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin since 2008, when he first started using Pak SIM cards too. He came in contact with Pehalwan the same year, and later connected with Abad Ali, alias Baadli, of Pakistan.

During the investigation around two dozen big fish have been apprehended so far.

According to the spokesperson, Jagga came in contact with Malik of Narwad village of Pakistan, in 2015, and had been receiving huge consignments of drugs from Pakistan from the latter since then. He received most of his drug consignments from Pakistan through the Ravi river and from the fencing in the plastic tubes.

He used cars and trucks of his associate Mahinder Singh, alias Minda, for transportation of the drugs. In one of his vehicles, a Tata Sumo, he had made hidden compartments below the rear seat to conceal the drugs. The drug money was transferred by Pakistan dealers through hawala channels.

After he was arrested twice in NDPS cases, Jagga started using WhatsApp on an international number.

Pak sim cards seized

• Pakistan SIM cards were recovered from Jagdeep Singh, alias Jagga, and Gurvinder Singh, alias Pehalwan, who are residents of Kot Dharam Chand Kalan village in Jhabal, Tarn Taran
• Investigation so far has revealed that the duo had received a large quantity of heroin and fake Indian currency from Pakistan through various routes via different modes.

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