Punjab Police sends drug-smuggler to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, first-ever case under NDPS Act

CHANDIGARH: In a first under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Punjab Police have sent a drug smuggler to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam. This was the first such action, which aims to break the jail-based drug mafia link in the region, initiated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Director General of Police, Punjab Gaurav Yadav said here today that Punjab Police in a joint operation with Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has detained notorious drug smuggler Balwinder Singh alias Billa Sarpanch from Gurdaspur city.

The accused Billa is a native of village Havelian in Tarn Taran and presently on bail, has been facing over 15 criminal cases, the majority of them related to the NDPS Act and Arms Act.

Yadav said that drug smuggler Billa has been detained under section 3 (1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS Act (PIT-NDPS) and sent to Dibrugarh in Assam. The detenu will be lodged in Dibrugarh jail during the detention period. He said that the accused is involved in trans-border drug smuggling networks with Pakistani smugglers.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Amritsar Rural Charanjit Singh said that following reliable inputs about the presence of the Balwinder Billa in the area of Gurdaspur City, police teams from Amritsar Rural led by DSP Gurinder Singh Nagra under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Harinder Singh Gill along with teams from NCB detained the accused drug smuggler. Further investigations are on to trace his other accomplices and identify the Pak-based drug smugglers, he added.

In another related development State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) has busted a cross-border smuggling module with the arrest of two suspects from Chabal in Tarn Taran and recovered sophisticated weapons from their possession.

DGP Yadav said that those arrested have been identified as Jatinder Singh of Thatha village in Tarn Taran and Navtej Singh of Muhawa village now village Thatha, in Tarn Taran. The Police recovered four 9mm Glock pistols (small factor) along with four magazines from their possession and also impounded the Honda Delux motorcycle on which they were travelling.

Yadav said that SSOC Amritsar had received an intel-input about the involvement of accused Jatinder Singh and his associate Navtej Singh in the cross-border smuggling of illegal weapons. Input further elaborated that suspects are in touch with various Pak-based smugglers and had recently procured a consignment of smuggled weapons, which they are going to deliver to a party near Baba Budha Charitable Hospital near Chabal, Tarn Taran on their motorcycle. He added that acting swiftly on the input, the team of SSOC Amritsar cordoned off the specified area in a planned manner apprehending both the accused and recovered the weapon consignment.

He said that during preliminary investigations, it was discovered that both accused had been receiving consignments of illegal weapons sent through drones by their cross-border handlers.

A case has been registered under the Arms Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station SSOC Amritsar.