Fazilka woman, son, nephew arrested for smuggling heroin

Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 6

The Sriganganagar police said a Fazilka woman, her son, and her nephew have been arrested for smuggling heroin, which was believed to have been dropped in four rounds by drones from Pakistan in a field near the border village, Naggi last month. Two suspects were arrested in the matter earlier, while a child molester had also been detained. A total of Rs 4.20 lakh in drug money was also seized.

Investigating Officer Rakesh Sankhla said after getting a production warrant issued by the court, Goga Bai (35), her son Dilshan Singh (19) and her nephew Jaspal Singh (27), lodged in the Fazilka jail were presented in court. He said the suspects have been sent to police remand for five days.

The police said that Jaspal Singh is a resident of a border village, Dhanur, in Kesrisinghpur. Police officials added that his car was used to smuggle the contraband. Police officials said Jaspal Singh’s brother Satpal Singh was arrested earlier, while Angrej Singh of the border village, Khatlubana, had also been arrested. Angrej Singh had sold some of the heroin.

The police said Goga Bai and Dilshan Singh are residents of Nawan Hasta village in Fazilka, and Jaspal Singh is Goga Bai’s nephew. The police said the search for another suspect in the matter, Chhinda Singh, was on.

The police said it surfaced that on July 19, a drone made four rounds and dropped packets of 2 kg of heroin in each sortie. Out of this, smugglers from Punjab managed to take away a total of 6 kg. Of the smugglers, three, including a woman and her son, were caught in Fazilka the next day.

Police officials said that the child molester and two others from the Fazilka area had gone to collect heroin packets dropped by the Pakistani drone. They said Satpal and Goga Bai, who had come with her son, kept waiting near the bus stand in Srikaranpur to collect drugs and fled with a part of heroin brought by the child molester and the two youths.

The police said an investigation indicated that 6 kg of heroin was dropped in three rounds and it fell into the hands of the smugglers. The police said when the drone took the fourth round and dropped two more packets, the farmers working in the nearby fields got wind of it. The police said when the farmers raised an alarm, the child molester and two other youths ran away in a hurry without taking a packet of heroin. The police said the mobile phone of a suspect was left behind.