2 land in STF net with 5-kg heroin

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 11

The Special Task Force (STF) wing of the Ludhiana police nabbed two heroin smugglers and recovered 5-kg heroin from their possession. The value of the recovered drug is said to be around Rs 25 crore in the international market.

The suspects have been identified as Rakesh Kumar (32) and Jagroop Singh (21), both residents of Khuralpur, Jalandhar.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Snehdeep Sharma and STF in-charge Inspector Harbans Singh addressed a press conference in this regard.

The AIG said a tip-off was received on Wednesday that the suspects were involved in heroin smuggling trade and they were on the way to deliver a huge quantity of drugs to their clients in their Maruti Swift car (bearing registration no. PB788849). The STF team laid a naka on the Nurmahal road where the car was stopped for checking. During checking of the vehicle, 4.520 kg of heroin was found concealed beneath the driver’s seat while 480 gm was recovered from Rakesh. Both of them were arrested.

During preliminary questioning, Rakesh confessed that he was unemployed but he was indulged in the smuggling trade for a long time. Earlier, he was also arrested by the Lohian police with 4-kg heroin and a murder case was also registered against him in the past. Jagroop said he was a daily wager and he joined Rakesh in the illegal trade, Sharma said. The duo confessed that they had started heroin smuggling to become rich in a short span of time.

Meanwhile, STF Inspector Harbans Singh said the suspects had been bringing heroin from Amritsar and Ferozepur border areas and a STF probe was on to bust the entire drug supply line. Some big suppliers of borders areas were also identified and they would also be arrested.

A case under the NDPS Act was registered against the suspects yesterday.

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