Raj Sadosh/Abohar.
Balwinder Singh, an accused carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 and absconding in a case involving the smuggling of 10.5 kg of heroin dropped by a drone from Pakistan in the Gharsana area, has now been arrested by the police.
Sriganganagar Superintendent of Police Hari Shankar Yadav said that Balwinder Singh, a resident of Chak 27-A, has been arrested on charges of involvement in anti-national activities. A case has been registered against him under Sections 318(4), 152, and 61(2) of the BNS.
The police said that Balwinder was not only linked to a Pakistani drug cartel but also maintained contact with a handler from a Pakistani intelligence agency. Interrogation revealed that he used to send SIM cards from Indian telecom companies to Pakistan via drones and was attempting to install solar-powered CCTV cameras in the sensitive international border area.
On June 26, the police intercepted a vehicle near Chak 5 GB. Jaswinder Singh (alias Jassi), a resident of Salempura, and Dharmendra Singh (alias Babbu), a resident of Sidhwan Bet, Ludhiana, were on board. Authorities recovered 9 kg 908 grams of heroin and Rs 1.40 lakh in suspicious cash from the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Jaswinder Singh’s wife, Navjot Kaur, was also arrested from their home; approximately half a kilogram of heroin was recovered from her possession.
During interrogation, Dharmendra Singh revealed that Amarjit Singh (alias Sarpanch), a resident of Ludhiana, had sent him to Sriganganagar in a car. His task was to collect the heroin from Jaswinder and transport it to Punjab. Jaswinder had arranged for the heroin to be dropped from Pakistan via drone.
Jaswinder had long been in contact with smugglers from both Punjab and Pakistan. He would facilitate the delivery of heroin—dropped by drones in the border area—to smugglers in Punjab. On the night of June 25, 21 packets of heroin were dropped into a field via drone. Jaswinder asked his brother-in-law, Balwinder Singh, to retrieve the packets. Balwinder sent another relative, Avtar Singh to do the job. On the morning of June 26, Jaswinder Singh went to Gharsana, collected the packets, and handed 20 of them over to Dharmendra Singh. He was on his way to Suratgarh with Dharmendra to deliver the consignment to Amarjit when the police apprehended both of them. Balwinder had been absconding since that time.
Police said that Balwinder colluded with his brother-in-law and communicated with a Pakistani handler via voice calls and chats on foreign numbers over WhatsApp. Investigation is going on.
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