KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
The National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s recent charge sheet revealed big details of narco-smuggling route between Pak-Gujarat-Punjab. The charge sheet was filed in connection with a narcotics case that arose out of Gujarat.
Punjab Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) recovered 13.30 kg heroin, worth Rs 66 crore in the international market, during a joint operation with the BSF along the Pakistan border in Ferozepur district.
Police arrested three youths, identified as Varun Kumar, Mohit Sharma alias Pandit and Simranjeet Singh Randhawa and recovered 1.6kg charas from them in Model Town in Jalandhar district.
Police arrested three persons, including a woman, for allegedly being involved in drug peddling, and recovered 1.6 grams heroin, 580 grams opium, 560 grams gold and Rs 49,48,700 cash from their possession near Tanda Chowk in Hoshiarpur district.
A Tarn Taran court has rejected an anticipatory bail plea of a dismissed Punjab Police inspector, accused of letting off two drug smugglers arrested with 1kg of heroin in March. Baljit Singh, who was posted in the Civil Lines area of Tarn Taran, had allegedly released Malkit Singh alias Palta, and his brother-in-law Bau Singh after accepting ₹3.5 lakh as bribe on March 31.
Police arrested two drug peddlers including a foreign woman on the charges of selling heroin from Shahkot in Jalandhar district. According to police, the accused have been identified as Elizabeth alias Liz a citizen of Kenya and presently living in New Delhi and Sammi Kapur son of Desraj a resident of Delhi. 505 grams heroin was recovered from their possession and the accused were travelling in a car.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered three packets of heroin weighing 2.5 kilograms and one pistol from Abohar in Fazilka district. According to BSF, an intelligence-based search operation was carried out by personnel of the second battalion leading to the recovery of the packets with a pistol, made in Turkey and one magazine.
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta asked all police chiefs in districts to launch a crackdown on drug smugglers and suppliers in their areas. In a virtual meeting, the DGP asked police officers to also launch a combing operation to nab all those selling or smuggling drugs. He made it clear that under the zero-tolerance policy against drugs, every Commissioner of Police (CP) and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) should not let the sale of drugs in their jurisdictions.
Car-borne drug smugglers shot dead two assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) and injured another in the new grain market in Jagraon in Ludhiana district. The accused also opened fire on a group of youths, who tried to record the incident on their phones, while fleeing the spot. The youngsters, however, escaped unhurt. Ludhiana Police said the assailants have been captured in the CCTVs installed in the area. An alert has been sounded and special teams have been formed to arrest the accused.
Rural Police arrested two drug smugglers, identified as Inderjit Singh and Balwinder Kumar, and recovered 2 kg of opium from their possession in Phagwara in Kapurthala district.
Police arrested one person, identified as Amarjit Singh and recovered 500 gms of opium from his possession in Phagwara in Kapurthala district.
Rural Police arrested a drug smuggler, identified as Charanjit Singh and recovered 10 Kg of Puppy Husks from his possession from Phagwara in Kapurthala district.
The Moga CIA Staff arrested a drug peddler, identified as Amanpreet Singh and recovered 2 kg of contraband opium from his possession from Moga in Moga district. The CIA staff disclosed that the peddler brought 3 Kg of contraband opium from Madhya Pradesh and he sold 1 Kg to his permanent customer and the remaining 2 Kg he came to provide to his customers in Moga.
Punjab Police managed to bust the entire part of gangster-cum-drug smuggler Gavi module active in the state with the arrest of his five accomplices and they also recovered 1.25 kg heroin from Gavi's rented flat located at Urban Homes-2 in Kharar in SAS Nagar district besides seizing three Pistols including one .30 calibre Chinese Pistol and two .32 calibre Pistols and 23 live cartridges from his hideouts. Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that Three vehicles, including Toyota Fortuner, Mahindra Scorpio and Hyundai Verna, which were being used for drug smuggling have also been recovered.
Police arrested two men, who were using an ambulance to smuggle drugs from UP and supply them to their clients in Ludhiana, along with more than 1 lakh intoxicating tablets in Ludhiana.
Police arrested a drug peddler, identified as ArashDeep Singh alias Arsh on the charge of selling opium and recovered 1 kilogram opium from his possession in Shahkot in Jalandhar district.
Police arrested a person, identified as Gagandeep Singh and seized 60,000 tramadol tablets (opioid-based narcotics) and 360 Wincirex syrup vials from his possession in Patiala in Patiala district.
The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) of the district police arrested three persons, identified as Parmjit Singh, Devinder Singh and Mohd Aasif and recovered 300-kg poppy husk from near Thaman Singh Wala in Sangrur district.
Police arrested five persons, including the son of former Cabinet Minister Sucha Singh Langah for possessing heroin from Dhariwal in Gurdaspur district . SSP Nanak Singh said, “All five — Aditya Mahajan, Kunal Kumar, Sudhir Singh, Rajesh Kumar and Parkash Singh Langah — were found consuming drugs at a private residence in Dhariwal. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered at the Dhariwal police station. I have formed a team of officers who are investigating the case”.
According to report, the Border Security Force (BSF) seized around 215-kg heroin till April 30 this year along the 553-km-long border with Pakistan this year (2021), which is the highest in the corresponding periods of last five years. The recovery was around 130 kg and 75 kg for the corresponding periods of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 10 packets of heroin, weighing 10.5 kg, along the Pakistan border in Ferozepur district. The seized contraband is worth Rs 55 crore in the international market.
Police arrested two persons, identified as Ankur Kumar and his accomplice Sikander Sahni along with 124 gm of cannabis (ganja) from near Pancham Hospital in Dugri in Ludhiana district.
Police arrested a man, identified as Sukhwinder Singh and recovered 5 gm of heroin from him from Street No 9 in Shimla Puri in Ludhiana district.
Police arrested three drug smugglers, identified as Karandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh and Hardeep Singh alias Saba, after a brief encounter in which several rounds of ammunition were exchanged near Jakholahri on the Dinanagar-Pathankot road in Pathankot district on April 25 night. Police recovered 265 gm heroin, a US-made pistol and five cartridges from the possession of the suspects.
Border Security Force (BSF) seized two packets of contraband suspected to be heroin wrapped in two white sacks weighing 1.902 kg from the area of responsibility of 136 Bn in Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur district. A BSF spokesperson said that the contraband was found hidden in the wheat fields ahead of border security fencing. Meanwhile, BSF had seized 202.097 kg heroin during the current calendar year so far having a value of more than Rs 1010 crore in the international market.
Police arrested two drug peddlers and recovered 13,700 intoxicating tablets and 1.5 kg opium from their possession in Khanna city of Ludhiana district. The accused were identified as Amritpal Singh of Noordi Adda and Daler Singh of Tarn Taran district.
Mohali Police arrested a couple, identified as Manoj Sharma and Aishwarya Nagpal and recovered 260 gm heroin from their possession from Dhakoli in Mohali district. The couple was arrested while they were waiting for their clients. During preliminary interrogation, the couple revealed that they had been procuring the heroin from a Nigerian national in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar and selling it to their clients in Mohali, Dhakoli, Zirakpur, Panchkula and Chandigarh.
Police busted an inter-state drug racket and arrested three persons, identified as Amandeep Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Nanak Singh along with 900 grams of heroin from Sirsa district.
Punjab Police recovered 1 kg of heroin that was concealed near a border outpost (BoP) along the India-Pakistan border in Ramdas village in Ajnala sector in Amritsar district. The drug consignment was supposed to be collected by smugglers on the Indian side of the border, Police said.
Police arrested three Nepali nationals, including a woman, along with 13 kg heroin from near Peer Baba Dargah on Ambala-Chandigarh highway in Lalru in Mohali district in the evening. A case under Section 18/61/85 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered at Lalru police station.
According to reports, Punjabi smugglers figure among top three notorious gangs in Canada behind the biker gangs and Vietnamese groups. The Punjabi gangs have hogged international limelight these days with the Canada police claiming on April 19 that they have broken a major drug cartel run mainly by Punjabis. Out of 33 persons charged for the possession of drugs and firearms besides huge currency and a gold-plated car, nearly 25 were of Punjabi origin. According to a report from Canada said about 21 per cent of gangsters died in gang-wars or police operations since 2006 were of Punjabi region. Their activities are of high concern back home in Punjab as some of the gangs have been linked to either arrested or wanted smugglers. The main being the gangs of Devinder Dev, Kamaljit Chauhan and Amarinder Singh Chhina. The Punjab Police and NCB officials said Dev even had links with the Jagdish Bhola gang. These persons had used Punjab as the base to transport drugs to Canada, the USA and Australia through the Golden Crescent of drugs network featuring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Punjab Government has approved a reward policy to encourage information and inputs leading to recovery of drugs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The Director General of Police (DGP), Dinkar Gupta, said the policy will recognize government servants-informers-sources for their role in providing inputs leading to the recovery of substantial quantity of drugs and in successful implementation of various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and PIT NDPS Act, 1988. The quantum of reward for successful investigation, prosecution, forfeiture of illegally acquired property, preventive detention and other significant anti-drug work shall be decided on case-to-case basis, he said.
The Narcotics Control Cell arrested a smuggler and recovered 6.27 kg heroin worth Rs 32 crore following the information provided by him in Ferozepur district.
In a major operation, Canadian law enforcement arrested and charged over two dozen persons, mostly Indo-Canadians with roots in Punjab, with participating in transnational drug trafficking activities. The drugs were being illegally brought into the country from the US - primarily from California - and also from India. York Regional Police (YRP), which led the investigation and the subsequent crackdown, said that multiple agencies worked on the operation that “dismantled a large-scale international drug trafficking network that extended to western Canada, the United States and India”. The investigation, named “Project Cheetah”, began in May last year (2020) and penetrated “a robust network” involved in importing large quantities of banned drugs into Canada. “The drugs were then distributed across the country through a sophisticated system run by the traffickers,” YRP said. On April 8, police in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia as well as in California executed over 50 search warrants, resulting in 33 people being charged with over 130 offences. Among them, 27 were arrested and charged in the Greater Toronto Area, with 19 of them hailing from the town of Brampton. Of these, 23 are of Punjabi origin. One suspect, Gurbinder Sooch, remains at large.
Police arrested Raj Kumar alias Raja and recovered 270-gram heroin from him in Ferozepur district. He was booked under the NDPS Act.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on April 17 filed a charge-sheet against seven narco-smugglers associated with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). The charge sheet exposes the plot of Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and banned terror outfit BKI. Pakistani ISI handler Arif told accused Gurpartap Singh that he will sell the heroin and then either he will buy weapons for BKI and other terrorists or provide the money to the terrorists and operatives of BKI. Arif also told that the proposed consignment will be for Gurpartap. In addition, he also told that Gurpartap has strong connections with ISI in Pakistan. The NIA charge-sheet says, “Investigation has established that accused Gurpartap Singh has been involved in smuggling of heroin and gold since 2004. He has been part of the larger conspiracy of smuggling of heroin and arms/ammunition into India to actively assist revival of BKI activities. He is an active member of BKI. His role is to collect proceeds of heroin and collect arms/ammunitions smuggled from Pakistan into India and forward them to the cadres of BKI and to create unrest in Punjab. In the first week of June, 2020 Sham Lal visited the house of Gurpartap Singh.” It further added that accused Ajeet Kumar remained an operative of BKI. He was involved in the 2005 Delhi Cinema Blast which was claimed by BKI. He had also been part of a larger conspiracy of smuggling of heroin, arms and ammunition into India for the revival of BKI cadres. Accused Ajeet Kumar played a vital role in transporting heroin.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 6.150 kilograms heroin and ammunition, including a Pakistan-made .30 bore pistol and two pistol magazines from across the International Border (IB) in Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka District.
The Border Security Force (BSF) arrested five alleged Indian drug peddlers, after an exchange of fire in which one of them was injured, near the Fatehpur international border outpost in Amritsar District. The arrested were identified as – Vikramjeet Singh and Vijay Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Gopi, all residents of Kakkar village and Navjot Singh of Dug Dogar village in the District. According to BSF, they observed suspicious movements on the Indian side of the barbed fence and challenged the suspects. However, they tried to flee away following which the BSF troopers opened fire at them in which Sarabjit Singh was injured.
Police and Border Security Force (BSF) recovered five kilograms of heroin in the international market from Gatti Bissoke border outpost area along the Indo-Pak International Border (IB) in Fazilka District.
Police recovered one kilogram of heroin and arrested three persons, identified as Dhawan Singh, and his brothers Harjinder Singh and Satwinder Singh, near the Lakhe Karaha in village link road along the IB in Fazilka District.
According to the latest data provided by the Border Security Force (BSF), the personnel in 2020 made a record 517-kilograms haul of heroin, which is the highest seizure in the past five years from along the International Border (IB) in Punjab. The drug recovery in 2020 witnessed almost a three-fold rise compared to 2019 (228 kilograms). BSF soldiers also shot dead eight drug smugglers and intruders in separate encounters in 2020 and arrested 13 of them. “The number of intruders trying to cross over, came down last year as we reacted swiftly,” said a senior BSF official. In 2020 in a humanitarian gesture, the force handed over six Pakistanis to the Pakistan Rangers after they had inadvertently crossed the IB. “With almost every drug consignment, weapons too are sent along. The most common weapon is a .30 bore pistol,” said a BSF officer.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 895-grams of heroin, concealed in a tractor near Kassoke border outpost along the International Border (IB) in Ferozepur District.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 10.265 kilograms of heroin, worth around INR 500 million in the international market, from Mamdot area along the Indo-Pak international border (IB) in Ferozepur District.
Six packets of heroin weighing 6.38 kilograms were recovered from the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar District.
An unidentified Pakistani drug smuggler was killed by the Indian Security Forces (SFs) at the international border (IB) in the Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur District. The SFs heard some sound along the border fence and opened fire in which one Pakistani intruder was killed on the spot. During a search, a PVC pipe and 14 packets of contraband, suspected to be heroin, weighing 14.805 kilograms was recovered from the possession of the slain intruder. Besides one pistol magazine, six rounds and two mobile phones were also recovered from the spot.
The Border Security Force (BSF) arrested a drug peddler, identified as Mandeep Singh, near Attari along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan in Amritsar District. During search across the barbed fencing, the personnel recovered 10 packets containing 10.7 kilograms of heroin. When challenged, the BSF men heard sounds cocking of weapons and opened fire in self-defence. Mandeep was injured while his accomplice fled from the spot. During search, the BSF found heroin in a bag.
The Border Security Force (BSF) in a joint operation conducted with the Punjab Police recovered two kilograms of heroin along with a pistol and 11 live bullets from across the barbed fence near Rajatal border outpost along the International Border (IB).The contraband was hidden under the ground around 200 metres ahead of the barbed fence.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered a packet containing 470-grams of heroin in Tahliwala border outpost in Fazilka District. The packet was recovered from the fields of a farmer, Darshan Singh, across the barbed fencing.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in Amritsar and Gurdaspur Districts of Punjab, in connection with a narco-terror case of Pakistan-based terror group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM). During searches, INR 2 million of drug proceeds, 130 rounds of 9 mm bullets, mobile phones, pen drive, one bunch of polythene bags used for packing heroin, a car, a two-wheeler, documents related to properties and other incriminating documents have been seized from the house of the suspect. An NIA spokesperson said, the searches were conducted at the premises of suspect Manpreet Singh of Amritsar, a close associate of charge-sheeted accused Ranjit Singh in connection with the investigation of HM narco-terror case. The case relates to the arrest of Hilal Ahmad Shergojri, an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of HM and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then ‘commander’ of HM who had come to Amritsar to collect funds to further the terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the official said.
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered two kilograms of heroin along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Ferozepur sector of Ferozepur District. BSF recovered 17.60 kilograms heroin so far in January 2021 along the IB in Punjab.