With arrest of wanted heroin smuggler, Punjab cops bust narco-terror racket with KLF links

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 26

With the arrest of wanted heroin smuggler Rajinder Singh, the Punjab Police claim to have busted an international narco-terror racket having links to the banned Khalistan Liberation Force.

Apart from Rajinder alias Ganja alias Mithu, a police constable, Karamjit Singh of Muktsar, was nabbed for allegedly facilitating the safe passage of drugs and hawala money during lockdown. Rajinder’s brother-in-law Chirag Rathi was also arrested from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh for his alleged involvement in the racket, which had been traced to associates of the now deceased terrorist Harmeet Singh alias PhD, said DGP Dinkar Gupta.

A .32 bore pistol and four live cartridges were recovered from Rajinder along with 530-gm heroin that was seized later from his flat in Zirakpur, said Gupta.

A criminal case under the Arms and NDPS Act has been registered at SAS Nagar against Rajinder. He was also allegedly involved in hawala transactions to the tune of Rs 12 crore. Several other FIRs are registered against him in various parts of Punjab.

During interrogation, Rajinder is learnt to have told the police that he was associated with Navpreet Singh alias Nav, a notorious smuggler wanted in several murder and drug cases.

The DGP said Rajinder would receive drug consignments coming from Srinagar and Delhi and distribute these ahead in Punjab. “The funds generated out of drug business were sent back to Navpreet through hawala channels. In April 2020 too, Police Commissionerate, Amritsar, had arrested a Hizbul terrorist, Hilal Ahmed Wagay, when he came to collect drug money on the instructions of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, a slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist,” said Gupta.

Rajinder allegedly got an Aadhaar card and passport made with the help of fake documents from UP and was looking to flee India in near future, said the DGP, adding the accused had also made a lot of property in and around Chandigarh and in Amritsar.