2 jail inmates among 12 held in drug bust

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, December 24

The Punjab Police have busted an inter-state pharma drug cartel running from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat with the arrest of 12 persons, including two inmates of Mansa and Goindwal jails. Over 15 lakh intoxicating tablets have been seized in a 20-day operation.

UP, Gujarat companies linked

• 2 suspects lodged in Goindwal & Mansa jails were in touch with others via mobile
• Intoxicating tablets were supplied by 'fake' firm based in Hapur district of UP
• It further sourced tablets from illegal opioid making unit in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

This comes following investigations into the seizure of 14,500 Tramadol tablets earlier this month in which the police arrested a local resident, Prince Kumar. His interrogation led the police to the other suspects and the two illegal opioid manufacturing and supply units in Gujarat and UP.

Amritsar City Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Prince during interrogation revealed he had supplied intoxicant pills at the behest of Major Singh, currently lodged in the Goindwal Jail. He was in touch with the inmate over the phone. Major was brought on production warrant and a mobile phone was seized from him.

Major’s interrogation led to the arrest of five other suspects — Baljinder Singh, Akash Singh, Surjit Singh, and Gurpreet Singh, all residents of Patti (Tarn Taran), and Mohar Singh of Harike.

Gurpreet and Major told the police they got supplies from Sachin Kumar of Kosi Kalan of Mathura, who owned an alleged fake firm, Elichem Pharma, based in UP’s Hapur district. The police teams nabbed Sachin, who along with Yogesh Kumar, alias Rinku, of Kosi Kalan, had prepared fake documents of Elichem Pharma for supply of drugs to Punjab. Yogesh was currently lodged in the Mansa jail. A mobile was recovered from him and he, too, was brought on production warrant by the police.

The officer said Yogesh and Sachin told the police they used to source drugs from Gloss Pharmaceuticals based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Sachin had met Gloss Pharma owners Manish and Rekha in Delhi, where they conspired to illegally send intoxicating pills to Punjab via Hapur.

For this, they forged documents of a wholesale unit in the name of Elichem Pharma. The drugs were sent to Hapur, from where these were routed to Akash in Agra. He further shipped the drugs to Amritsar.

Bhullar said a police team in joint operation with the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Gujarat raided the Ahmadabad firm and recovered 14,72,220 intoxicating tablets. Both Manish and Rekha were arrested. Similarly, Akash was nabbed from Agra and 18,000 intoxicating tablets were seized from his possession.

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