Narco-gangster module busted in Tarn Taran, 3 held

TARNTARAN: The police on Tuesday busted a module of narco-gangsters in Bhikhiwind with the arrest of three persons, allegedly linked to the 532-kg heroin seizure in Attari.

The accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh of Bhikhiwind village, Sukhdev Singh of Jeonoke village and Sarabjit Singh of Wara village. One of the three accused had been in touch with several gangsters and smugglers lodged in Amritsar central jail, police said. Police also recovered five pistols, a .12 bore double barrel rifle and five live rounds.

Director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that Gurpreet’s questioning had revealed he was in direct contact with Shubham, a Batala-based gangster and prime accused in the ₹7-crore armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Amritsar in 2018. Shubham was arrested in 2019 and is currently lodged in Amritsar central jail. With Shubham’s

help, Gurpreet had supplied weapons to his associates in Tarn Taran and Ferozepur areas, Gupta said.

The DGP added that a team led by SSP Dhruv Dhaiya had identified three other associates of the gang, all residents of Ferozepur. They were found to be actively involved in supply of weapons in Tarn Taran. Gupta said one Surya of Katora village in Ferozepur was identified as another key associate of Shubham’s, who was involved in the supply of illegal weapons in coordination with Gurpreet.

Police said Gurpreet also had direct links with Kuldip Singh of Havelian village, brother of Ranjit Singh— the alleged kingpin in the 532-kg Attari drug haul case.

The DGP said, “Gurpreet’s connections had also been traced to Sarabjit Singh, who is an accused in a 13kg heroin case and lodged in jail currently. Gurpreet repeatedly procured “commercial scale heroin consignments” from Kuldip and Sarabjit, said the police.