Ex-Punjab DSP, aides held with 15kg opium

: The special task force (STF) on Friday arrested a former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Haqeqat Rai Singh and his two aides with 15kg of opium, a .32-bore revolver and 18 cartridges.

On a tip-off, a team headed by superintendent of police Rajinder Singh Sohal intercepted a car (HR-08F-2900) near Taana village in Fatehgarh Sahib and nabbed the former DSP his associates Swaran Singh, 55, a truck driver, and Bikram Nath, 46, who heads Dera Baba Jaswant Nath at Badoshi Kalan village in Fatehgarh Sahib, with the contraband and arms.

Sohal said they were bringing the contraband from Jharkhand.

Haqeqat Rai, 63, who currently lives in Sirhind, retired from the internal vigilance department of Punjab Police in 2015.

The STF probe revealed that Bikram Nath succeeded as the head of the dera after death of its previous head Jaswant Nath in 2006. Both Swaran Singh and Haqeqat Rai were frequent visitors to the dera and the trio were addicted to drugs, said Sohal.

Preliminary probe revealed that Nath was involved in drug peddling with Swaran since long, said Sohal, adding that the retired DSP claimed that this was his first attempt of smuggling drugs. “We are verifying his claims,” said Sohal.

He said the trio used to bring opium from other states at cheaper rates and sell it in Punjab at a higher price.

A Mohali court has sent the trio to three-day police remand, said Sohal.