Chandigarh, April 11 Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Friday that striking a major blow to the cross-border drug smuggling amid the ongoing anti-drugs campaign 'Yudh Nashian Virudh', Punjab Police's Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) apprehended a key drug trafficker and recovered 18.2 kg heroin from his possession.
The arrested drug smuggler has been identified as Hira Singh, alias Hira, a resident of Khaira village in Amritsar district.
DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that accused Hira Singh and his associate, Kulwinder Singh, alias Kinda, of Dauke village in Amritsar, were in touch with Pakistan-based drug trafficker identified as Billa.
The latter has been using drones to drop the large consignments of heroin from across the border for the past one year, he added.
The DGP said that raids are being conducted to nab the accused Kulwinder Singh.
Further investigations are underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he added.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), ANTF, Nilabh Kishore, said that police teams of ANTF Border Range Amritsar had received a reliable input that accused Hira Singh and Kulwinder Singh are notorious drug smugglers and had been receiving heroin consignments via drones from a Pakistan-based drug smugglers for the past year.
Acting swiftly, police teams led by Superintendent of Police (Amritsar), Gupreet Singh, launched an operation and arrested the accused Hira Singh, when he was leaving his house on a motorcycle to deliver the heroin consignment.
Police teams have recovered 12 packets of heroin (1.5 kg each), totalling 18 kg 227 gm, from his possession, he said.
The ADGP said that in order to break the chain of heroin supply, the questioning will be conducted of an accused.
Thereafter, action will be taken against the culprits on the basis of facts, he added.
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