BSF seizes 9.5kg heroin sneaked in by Pak peddlers
KHALRA (TARN TARAN) : Personnel of the 87 Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) claimed to have seized nine packets (each weighing 1kg) of contraband, suspected to be heroin, thrown by Pakistani smugglers into the Indian territory during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday near Khalra border outpost (BOP) , 40 km from the district headquarters.
An Indian national, who had allegedly come to collect the contraband from the spot, was also arrested with a pistol and a magazine. The arrested accused has been identified as Balbir Singh of Khalsa Colony situated on the Tarn Taran road in Amritsar.
Addressing a press conference at Amarkot here, the deputy inspector general (DIG) of BSF, BS Rajpurohit, said around 3am on Wednesday, personnel of the battalion observed some movement near pillar number 139 through night vision cameras installed at the Indo-Pakistan border. Around 3:15am, the troops observed two men on the Pakistani side throwing something into the Indian territory across the border fence.
“The troops challenged them to stop, but the smugglers managed to escape taking advantage of grown wheat crop and darkness,” he said.
“Immediately afterwards the troops also observed two people on Indian side and challenged them to stop. One of the two Indian smugglers managed to flee from the spot taking advantage of darkness, but the other
AN INDIAN NATIONAL, WHO ALLEGEDLY CAME TO COLLECT CONTRABAND, HELD WITH A PISTOL AND 25 CARTRIDGES
was nabbed. The two Indian smugglers had come there to collect the contraband,” said the DIG. A pistol of 7.65 mm, one magazine and 25 cartridges were seized from his possession, the BSF official said.
He said the troops then launched a search operation in the area and found nine packets of the contraband suspected to be heroin. He said the contraband’s international market price is around ₹45 crore. He said the arrested accused has not revealed the name of his accomplice, but investigation is on and the fleeing smuggler will also be arrested soon.