Heroin haul accused tries to end life outside STF office

Former member of the Punjab Subordinate Service Selection Board (SSSB) Anwar Masih, an accused in 194-kg heroin seizure case, tried to end his life by consuming a poisonous substance outside the Punjab Police’s special task force (STF) office in Amritsar on Tuesday.

The incident took place around 3pm when Masih was addressing a protest held by the Christian community members demanding quashing of case registered against him. Masih, also a former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, was rushed to Amritsar Fortis Escorts Hospital.

On Monday, the court of additional district and sessions judge Pushpinder Singh cancelled Masih’s interim bail that was granted on medical grounds following the recommendations of a high powered committee constituted by the Supreme Court to decongest jails during the first wave of Covid-19 in July 2020. The STF had opposed the bail.

The SFT had recovered the contraband from a house that was on Masih’s name in February 2020 on the disclosure of one Sukhbir Singh, alias Happy, who was arrested with 6kg of heroin in Mohali. After the raid, the police had arrested seven people, including Masih and an Afghanistan national. During investigation, many more people were named in the case, including the racket’s kingpin Simranjit Singh, alias Sandhu. The heroin was smuggled from Pakistan via a Gujarat post, the investigation had found.

The Afghan national was helping the other accused in processing the contraband. Masih had given his house on rent to another accused Sukhwinder Singh since December 2019. As per STF, Masih was aware of the drug smuggling racket.