Police said they foiled a major drug smuggling bid by Pakistan-based smugglers.
Around 40 kg of heroin worth Rs 200 crore in the international market was recovered from Panjgraian area near the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar early Saturday morning, the police said.
The recovery was made during a joint operation by the Punjab Police and the Border Security Force (BSF), they said.
Amritsar (Rural) senior police officer Gulneet Singh Khurana said that police had received information that Nirmal Singh, a notorious smuggler and a resident of Gharinda in Amritsar, would take delivery of heroin coming from Pakistan at the International Border (IB).
This information was shared with the BSF, the police said.
Police said with the recovery of 39 packets of heroin weighing 40.810 kg, they foiled a major drug smuggling bid by Pakistan-based smugglers.
Senior police officer Dinkar Gupta said the joint teams of the Punjab Police and the BSF successfully seized heroin, besides recovering 180 gram of opium and two plastic pipes, which were made in Pakistan.
Police have launched a massive manhunt to arrest Nirmal Singh, who is also wanted by the Tarn Taran Police in a case of 1 kg heroin recovery last year, Mr Khurana said, adding that investigations were underway.
A case has been registered in this regard, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)