Kingpin of drug smuggling racket lands in police net
Six days after busting a major interstate drug-smuggling racket in a joint operation with Moga police and seizing 72 quintals of poppy husk packed in 180 bags hidden under raw bananas in a truck, Jalandhar counter intelligence wing along with Anandpur Sahib police on Sunday arrested its kingpin Jagdev Singh, alias Deban, of Moga's Daulewala village, and his three accomplices, identified as Gurdev Singh of Kot Ise Khan, Gurwinder Singh, alias Jindu, and Lakhwinder Singh, alias Kaku, all from Daulewala village in Moga district.
On August 6, Jalandhar counter intelligence and Moga police had arrested two members of this gang while they were smuggling poppy husk from Rajasthan to Punjab.
The cops had impounded a truck loaded with 180 bags of poppy husk.
However, Jagdev had managed to evade the arrest then.
Assistant inspector general of police (AIG) (counter intelligence) HPS Khakh, while addressing mediapersons, said they acted on an information about the return of Deban and his three gang members to Punjab from Rajasthan a few days ago and a suspicion that they might be camping in Anandpur Sahib .
“My team along with Anandpur Sahib police on Sunday intercepted a white Scorpio and apprehended the four accused with 25 gram of intoxicant powder in their possession,” the AIG said.
Khakh said during preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that Jagdev was involved in the drug trade since 1990.
“He has been facing 10 cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) at different police stations of the state,” the AIG added.
Khakh said during interrogation, the accused told the police that they were paying drug money through ‘hawala’ operators in Punjab to their counterparts in Rajasthan.
“This link will also be investigated during their further interrogation considering its serious nature,” he said, adding, “all of them will be taken on remand and questioned regarding the module of hawala racket and their other accomplices”.