Gym trainer among two held with opium

Jagraon, January 3

The Ludhiana (rural) police claimed to have busted a gang of drug peddlers and arrested two of its members. The gang has been involved in smuggling of drugs and narcotics from neighbouring states under the guise of pilgrimage.

A vehicle used in the crime and 1 kg of opium were seized from the possession of kingpin and second-generation trafficker Kaivy Verma of Raikot and his accomplice Bikramjit Uppal of Bassian town in Ludhiana district.

SSP Rajbachan Singh Sandhu said police officials, supervised by DSP (D) Anil Kumar Bhanot and in-charge, CIA, Jagraon, Prem Singh, had nabbed the accused when they were going to deliver a consignment of opium to some of their clients late on Sunday night.

They were apprehended at a naka on Disposal Road on a tip-off.

Though the police were yet to confirm identities of suppliers and purchasers of the consignment, preliminary investigations revealed that Kaivy, who works as a gym trainer at Raikot, had brought two more consignments from Rajasthan earlier too. Investigations revealed that Kaivy’s father late Tara Chand Gogi had been engaged in the illicit trade of drug peddling till he died a few months ago. Gogi was also booked in many cases under the NDPS Act and his son took over his illicit trade after his death a few months ago. The accused confessed that they used to pose as devotees visiting religious places of Rajasthan to avoid being caught by the police on the way. — OC