Police foil attempt to smuggle 31 quintals of poppy husk into state

The Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh police on Friday foiled an attempt to smuggle over 31 quintals of poppy husk from the state into Punjab. Three persons have been arrested in this regard.

Hanumangarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Hari Shankar said 31.6 quintals of poppy husk was kept hidden in a truck. Along with the consignment, the truck and an escort car were also seized.

The SP said a check-post was set up this morning on the Amritsar-Jamnagar Express Highway near Kohlan village.

The truck bearing a Punjab registration number coming from the Rawatsar direction was stopped and searched.

The truck was loaded with 158 plastic sacks containing the poppy husk.

Those held have been identified as Prakash Singh of Gidderbaha, Sukhbir Singh of Malout and Jagjit Singh of Gidderbaha. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act.

The SP said the Amritsar-Jamnagar Express Highway, a part of the Bharatmala project, was increasingly becoming a major transit route for drug smuggling. A large quantity of liquor is being smuggled from Punjab to Gujarat. Meanwhile, narcotics like poppy husk and opium are smuggled from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan into Punjab and Haryana, he added.