Amritsar Commissionerate of Police (CP) on Tuesday claimed to have busted two interlinked cross-border narcotics smuggling cartels with the arrest of five accused and seized 7.050 kg of heroin from their possession. Those arrested have been identified as Deepak Singh alias Deepu (22), a resident of Harkrishan Nagar in Chheharta, Amritsar; Prince Singh alias Prince, a resident of village Kohala in Amritsar; Rajinder Singh alias Ghuddu (23); Randeep Singh alias Dil (19); and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (21), all three residents of village Sensra Kalan in Amritsar. Police teams also impounded a motorcycle used for drug trafficking.Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were in contact with a Pakistan-based smuggler, who was sending consignments via drones and coordinating the distribution of drugs across the state through local handlers. The DGP said further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages of this drug smuggling network.Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that in a targeted operation based on reliable input, police teams arrested Deepak Singh alias Deepu, and seized 1.3 kg heroin from his possession. During further interrogation, an additional 2.6 kg heroin was seized, taking the total seizure to 4.04 kg heroin, he said. He added that during further investigation regarding the common Pakistan-based handler, police teams arrested three more accused — Rajinder alias Ghuddu, Randeep alias Dil and Gurpreet alias Gopi — and seized 1.01 kg heroin from their possession. Based on further disclosure by the arrested accused, their fourth associate, Prince Singh alias Prince, was also apprehended and 2 kg heroin was seized from his possession, he added.The CP said arrested accused Deepak alias Deepu has previous criminal involvement under the NDPS Act, with a case registered at Khanna. In this regard, two separate cases under Section 21-C of the NDPS Act have been registered at the Chheharta and Cantonment police stations.


