BSF constable, 2 others arrested in smuggling racket

CHANDIGARH: A BSF constable and two others have been arrested in a cross-border smuggling racket of drugs and weapons, the Punjab police said on Sunday.

A .30 bore, made-in-china pistol along with five live cartridges and ~24.50 lakh were r e c o ver e d from t he t hree accused. The BSF constable has been identified as Rajendra Prashad while the 2 locals have been identified as Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh, said Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta.

Prashad is the second BSF constable arrested recently by the Punjab police in a cross-border smuggling racket. The police had arrested another BSF constable, Sumit Kumar, posted at Sambha in Jammu and Kashmir, in another cross-border smuggling case.

Giving details of the operation, Gupta said acting on a tipoff, a Jalandhar Rural police team had on July 26 apprehended two smugglers, who were coming in a car from Delhi. The cops had recovered 25 gm of heroin from them. On questioning, the duo identified themselves as Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh.

Surmail’s further questioning led to the recovery of the pistol along with five live rounds. During questioning, the duo had also revealed that they were working with a cross-border smuggler, Satnam Singh alias Satta, a resident of Taran Tarn district. They also disclosed that BSF constable Rajendra Prashad was also involved in the smuggling racket. The DGP said he contacted his counterparts in the BSF and Rajasthan for the arrest of the constable.