Punjab cops arrest three Army men for smuggling drugs, arms from Pak

The Punjab Police’s State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on Monday busted a major narcotics smuggling network by arresting three Army men and two civilians for their alleged role in procuring heroin and arms and ammunition from Pakistan-based smugglers.

All five were arrested from Gokuwal village along the Dera Baba Nanak road. This was an SSOC operation and the Batala police had no hand in the arrests, said officials. An FIR has been registered at the SSOC, Amritsar, on a complaint by Inspector Amandeep Singh, who led the operation.

The arrested Army men were identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, his brother Sukhpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh, the officials said. The civilians arrested in the case were Kulwinder Singh and Arvinder Singh. Gopi, who has been named as the “chief conspirator”, worked in J&K, while Sukhpreet Singh was posted in Bathinda. It is not clear where Akashdeep Singh was posted. He was on leave when arrested. One pistol and 135 gm heroin was seized from them. Investigators were questioning them and more arrests were likely as the investigation proceeded, the officials said. Their financial dealings are also under the lens.