72 quintals of poppy husk seized in Moga, two held
INTERSTATE DRUG RACKET Concealed under raw bananas, the consignment was being brought from Rajasthan
JALANDHAR: The counter intelligence wing of the Punjab Police claimed to have busted an interstate drug racket and recovered 180 bags of poppy husk, hidden in a truckload of raw bananas, at Mehna village in Moga, on Monday.
The truck coming from Rajasthan to Punjab was intercepted at the Baghapurana-Jagraon road and poppy husk totalling 72.5 quintals was seized. The bags were filled with 40kg poppy husk each. The police arrested two persons, identified as Dharamjit Singh of Landeke village and Gurbir Singh of Rattian village, and impounded the truck. While three prime smugglers, Jagdev Singh, alias Deban, and Shinder Singh of Daulewala village, 17km from Moga district headquarters, and Buta Singh of Charik village taking advantage of the darkness managed to flee in a white Scorpio SUV.
Addressing a press conference, assistant inspector general (AIG) of counter intelligence wing HPS Khakh said the police got a tip-off that a truck escorted by a Scorpio was carrying huge consignment of poppy husk. “We informed the Moga senior superintendent of police Gurpreet Singh Toor, who then directed the Mehna police team to set up a checkpoint in the village in the wee hours of Monday,” said the AIG.
“Poppy husk has a different kind of odour. The police sensed something fishy and stopped the truck. During checking, the team found 180 bags filled with poppy husk concealed under raw bananas,” Khakh said.
He added that during preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that a particular module of smugglers, led by Deban, had planned to take one heavy consignment of poppy from Rajasthan state. “For this, they had hired Dharamjit Singh to procure the consignment from Rahul, a resident of Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, and a poppy husk contractor,” said the AIG.
“The smugglers were using the hawala process to transfer money to their Rajasthan counterparts, which is a new mode of operation, and is being investigated,” he said.
Khakh said that the smugglers have been opting a new method to smuggle drugs into the state by concealing poppy husk under something to avoid its pungent smell.
A case under Sections 15/25/29-61-85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Mehna police station.