Assets worth ₹10 cr of 2 Tarn Taran drug smuggler frozen

TARNTARAN:Police on Wednesday froze assets worth ₹10 crore of two drug smugglers, including Balwinder Singh, aka Billa Havelian, from Tarn Taran district.

Assets worth over ₹8 crore were frozen of Billa, 54, in Tarn Taran and Mohali districts. He hails from Havelian village near the Indo-Pakistan border that has gained notoriety for crossborder drug smuggling.

He faces FIRs in 15 cases, including that for drug smuggling from Pakistan and attempt to murder charges, in various districts of Punjab. He has been lodged in a Patiala jail after his arrest in August 2019 with 750 gram heroin.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruv Dahiya said they froze the assets after receiving an order from the competent authority. He said, “The assets include agricultural land at Dhalla village worth ₹1.05 crore and land at Mohali’s Jhanjeri village which is worth ₹7.08 crore.”

He said police had already seized Billa’s property worth ₹74 lakh in 2019. Billa has been involved in drug smuggling for nearly three decades. The first FIR was registered against him under the NDPS Act in 1992.

The police also froze assets worth ₹2 crore of another drug smuggler Kinderbir Singh, alias Sunny, of Dyal Rajputan village.

The properties include agricultural land and a residential house. Sunny has been booked in at least 8 cases, including that of drug smuggling and attempt to murder. HTC