This Article is From Aug 26, 2020

Punjab Police Busts Narco-Terror Racket; Wanted Smuggler Arrested

The drug smuggler faces several drugs and arms-related cases. He was also involved in hawala transactions to the tune of Rs 12 crore, the police said.

Punjab Police Busts Narco-Terror Racket; Wanted Smuggler Arrested

The drug smuggler confessed that he had supplied huge quantities of drugs to various smugglers.

Chandigarh:

The Punjab Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an international narco-terror racket with links to proscribed terrorist group Khalistan Liberation Force with the arrest of a wanted drug smuggler and a constable.

The drug smuggler has been identified as Rajinder Singh alias Ganja. 

The police constable, Karamjit Singh of Muktsar, was facilitating safe movement of drugs and money during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, officials said.

Rajinder's brother-in-law has also been arrested from Uttar Pradesh for his involvement in the racket, which has been traced to associates of terrorist Harmeet Singh alias PhD, Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said in a statement.

A .32 bore pistol, four live cartridges and 530 grams heroin were recovered from Rajinder's possession, he said.

Rajinder faces several drugs and arms-related cases. He was also involved in hawala transactions to the tune of Rs 12 crore, the police said.

He told police that he was involved in the distribution of drugs which were arranged by Navpreet Singh alias Nav, a notorious smuggler wanted by the Punjab Police in murder and narcotics-related cases, they said.

He further confessed that he had supplied huge quantities of drugs to various smugglers in different parts of Punjab on the directions of Navpreet.

Rajinder used to receive drug consignments mostly coming from Srinagar and Delhi for distribution in Punjab, DGP Gupta said.

The funds generated through the drug business were sent back to Navpreet through hawala channels, he said.

Interrogation of Rajinder led to the arrest of his brother-in-law Chirag Rathi from Muzaffarnagar, and also police constable Karamjit Singh. The constable is currently posted as driver with the deputy director, Chief Chemical Examiner, Kharar, DGP Gupta said.

Rajinder had provided a large sum of money to his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law has admitted that he along with his maternal uncle had spent over Rs 1 crore of the drug money to buy properties and vehicles, he said.

Rajinder got an Aadhaar card and a passport with the help of fake documents from Uttar Pradesh and was planning to flee India in the near future, the officer said, adding that the accused had also constructed a lot of properties in and around Chandigarh and Amritsar. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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