Three held with 7.8-kg opium

Our Correspondent

Patiala, March 7

The Patiala police on Monday claimed to have arrested three drug peddlers from Rajpura city and recovered 7.8-kg opium from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Vinod Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Ranjit Kumar, all residents of Chatra district in Jharkhand. The accused were produced before the local court today and have been sent to two-day police remand till March 9.

According to the police, the accused were arrested near Gagan Chowk, when they were boarding a bus to Patiala. The police party led by Station House Officer (SHO) Bhagwant Singh set up a checkpoint near Gagan Chowk, and when the police party signaled three pedestrians to stop, they tried to flee from the spot. The police chased them and recovered 2.6-kg opium from each of them.

A case was registered under the NDPS Act at Rajpura City police station. SHO Bhagwant Singh said the investigation was on to identify the buyers of the drugs and they might have bought the drugs from Jharkhand to make easy profit by selling it on high rates in Punjab.