77 kg heroin seized in Punjab in one of year's biggest busts, four held

The Punjab Police busted two separate cross-border smuggling rackets with the arrest of four traffickers and seized 77.8 kg of heroin in Ferozepur in one of the biggest drug busts this year, said a top official on Sunday.

Three pistols were also seized from the arrested accused, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said here in a statement.

Both the operations were conducted by the police's Counter Intelligence Wing, Ferozepur.

Following reliable inputs about a large heroin consignment being moved, the police arrested two men when they were arriving on their motorcycle after retrieving the narcotics, Yadav said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Gagga Gill alias Gagan alias Kali of Bare Ke village in Ferozepur and Veer Singh alias Veeru of Muhar Sona village in Fazilka.

The police recovered from them 41.8 kg of heroin, two 9 mm pistols, four magazines and 100 cartridges, and one .30-bore Zigana along with two magazines and 15 cartridges.

A case was registered against them under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act in Fazilka, Yadav said.

In the second operation, police teams arrested Jasbhinder Singh alias Bhinda and Jagdeep Singh alias Bhuchar, both residents of Deep Singh Wala village in Faridkot, after seizing 36 kilogrammes of heroin. The pair was travelling on their motorcycle after retrieving the consignment when they were arrested.

A separate case was registered against them at the police station in Fazilka, Yadav said.

"These modules were actively involved in trans-border and inter-state drug smuggling in Punjab in a big way," he said.

Special Director General of Police (Internal Security) RN Dhoke said police teams are investigating backward and forward linkages in both cases to ascertain the role of other people involved, including the Pakistan-based person who sent the consignments.

More arrests are expected in the coming days, he added.