KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
Police on September 26 arrested an individual identified as Niket Singh and recovered 20 grams of heroin from his possession in Zikapur in Sahibzada Ajit Singh (SAS) Nagar district.
The Counter-Intelligence (CI) wing of the Punjab Police on September 26 arrested a drug smuggler identified as Manpreet Singh and seized 4 kg of heroin and a car from his possession near Khurmania village in Amritsar district. Manpreet had been communicating with Pakistani drug smugglers through WhatsApp and was transporting the heroin consignment. Reportedly, it had been delivered by Pakistani smugglers using a drone near Naushehra Dhala village in Tarn Taran district to an unknown recipient.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on September 26 recovered 3 packets of heroin weighing 1.5 kg near Daoke village in Amritsar district.
In a joint operation, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police arrested a man, identified as Malkiat Singh and seized 700 grams of heroin along with a motorcycle from his possession in Daoke village in Amritsar district.
Police on September 25 arrested two drug smugglers, identified as Harjinder Singh and Nirmal Singh, and seized 2 kg of heroin from their possession near Makhu town in Ferozepur district. The accused were riding a motorcycle without a registration number, and the heroin was discovered during a vehicle inspection.
The Border Security Force (BSF) in a joint operation with Punjab Police, on September 24, arrested two individuals identified as Jagpreet Singh and Surinder Singh and recovered 12 kg of heroin and INR 19.3 lakh from their possession, from near Chaura Kalan village in Gurdaspur district. Three suspects were spotted riding a motorcycle and behaving suspiciously. Subsequently, two of them were apprehended while attempting to flee a checkpoint. The police are currently searching for the third suspect.
The counter-intelligence (CI) wing of Punjab Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) on September 23 recovered a small drone and 500 gm of heroin on the outskirts of Mahawa village in Amritsar district. The recovered drone is a Quadcopter (Model - DJI Mavic 3 classic) made in China.
Amritsar Police on September 19 busted a cross-border heroin smuggling module based in Pakistan, arresting one of its members, Gurjit Singh along with INR 13.5 lakh in drug money, 850 grams of heroin, and a car in Cheecha village in Amritsar district. Investigations revealed that the operation was orchestrated by jailed drug smuggler Gurwinder Singh alias Mehak, from Kapurthala Central Jail. Gurjit admitted to smuggling approximately 40 kg of heroin in the past month. He received heroin supplies from an unidentified source in Pakistan and transported them through various means, including the riverine route and drones. Gurjit also confessed to collaborating with Pakistani smugglers and using hawala networks to transfer proceeds, raising concerns of potential terror funding.
Police on September 18 arrested five individuals, identified as Kashmir Singh, Swaran Singh alias Chapar, Amandeep Singh, Rahul and Atul and recovered 6 kilograms of heroin along with INR 7 lakh cash from their possession near Ramidi bridge in Kapurthala district. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajpal Singh Sandhu, Sukhdev Singh alias Sebi transported the heroin from Delhi and then distributed it to two brothers named Rahul and Atul. The brothers were allegedly planning to pass the heroin to the other three individuals. Police are making efforts to apprehend Sukhdev, who remains at large.
The Border Security Force (BSF), in a joint operation with Punjab Police on September 17, recovered 3.130 kg of heroin airdropped by a Pakistani drone in Amisha village in Tarn Taran district.
The Border Security Force (BSF), in a joint operation with Punjab Police on September 17, recovered a large parcel containing 2.5 kg of heroin from a field after intercepting and shooting down the drone near Gatti Rajoke village in Ferozepur district.
The staff of the Counter-Intelligence (CI) Wing of Punjab Police on September 17 arrested a smuggler identified as Jagdish Singh and seized 1 kg of heroin from his possession in Lakho ke Behram village in Ferozepur district. Jagdish, during interrogation, revealed that he, along with two other individuals named Bittu Singh and Buta Singh, had brought a heroin consignment from Pakistan.
Police personnel at Faridkot Modern Jail on September 17 arrested two women, identified as Preeti and Simran Kaur and seized 30 grams of heroin and 105 grams of sulfa drugs, along with a mobile phone and a sim card from their possession, in Faridkot district. According to Assistant Jail Superintendent Karamjit Singh Bhullar, the women were allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin to their husbands inside the jail with the help of Vishal Singh, an inmate of the jail.
Punjab State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on September 15 arrested three cross-border smugglers identified as Gurmeet Singh, Angrej Singh and Balwinder Singh alias Billa and seized 1.6 kg of heroin from their possession near Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran district. The heroin is suspected to have been delivered via a drone by smugglers based in Pakistan, with whom the arrested individuals had links.
The Border Security Force (BSF) along with Punjab Police on September 15 recovered 1.710 kg of heroin based on the input provided by Jalandhar Rural Police, in Tendi Wala village in Ferozepur district.
A man identified as Amandeep Singh died from a drug overdose on September 11 in Moga city in Moga district. Police have arrested his friend Baldeep Singh alias Bablu, and an unidentified drug supplier based on the statement of the deceased's father Kewal Singh. Amandeep and Baldeep had consumed 'chitta' (heroin) procured from an unidentified supplier on September 11.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on September 11 recovered a bottle containing about 1.3 kilograms of heroin, near Mehdipur village in Tarn Taran district. The bottle was concealed in the flood debris collected alongside the international border (IB) fence.
Punjab Police on September 10 conducted Operation 'SEAL-4' in collaboration with four neighboring states- Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir. They arrested 64 individuals and seized 667 grams of heroin, two pistols along with ammunition, 35 kg of poppy husk, INR 1.48 lakh in cash, 40 grams of smack, 9275 bottles of licit liquor, 170 bottles of illicit liquor, and 17 vehicles. Additionally, they filed 49 First Information Reports (FIRs). The operation was conducted between 8 am and 2 pm and involved strong checkpoints at inter-state boundaries in 10 border districts.
Police on September 9 arrested five criminals and recovered a large quantity of drugs from their possession, near Navi Nagar village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The criminals were arrested after a two-hour-long encounter. The police had been pursuing these individuals, who had multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) against them, for several weeks. Acting on a tip-off about their presence at a bhog ceremony, the police followed them, leading to the encounter.
Punjab Police’s State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on September 8 arrested an individual identified as Pritam Singh and recovered 15 kilograms of heroin and a tractor-trolley from his possession near Dhani Kharas Wali village in Fazilka district. The heroin was recovered hidden under wheat straws in the tractor-trolley, in which Pritam was travelling, along with his wife Kushalia Bai and son-in-law Gurmit Singh. While Pritam was arrested during an inspection at a checkpoint, Kushalia and Gurmit escaped.
Punjab Police on September 7 arrested an alleged drug trafficker, identified as Malkait Singh alias Kali and recovered 9 kilograms of heroin from his possession from near Boparai Canal Bridge near Goraya Jalandhar district. According to Jalandhar Rural's Senior Superintendent of Police, Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar, Malkait Singh reportedly had connections with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler Haider Ali, and had allegedly sent three swimmers to Pakistan to retrieve a 50 kg heroin consignment through a riverine route. The Police had previously seized 22.5 kg of heroin, bringing the total amount recovered to 31.5 kg. Police teams are actively searching for the remaining drug smugglers.
Punjab police, on September 6, busted a major trans-border narcotics smuggling ring by arresting a drug smuggler identified as Harpreet Singh and recovering 15 kilograms of heroin and a Hyundai Grand i-10 car from his possession in New Ranjitpura in Amritsar district. Following his arrest, four associates of Harpreet, identified as Gagandeep Singh alias Guggu alias Haddi, Rahul Singh, and Harpreet Singh alias Happy Jatt, were nominated by the police, according to the Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav. Harpreet was arrested following a tip-off provided by a village defense committee (VDC) constituted by the Punjab Police in border villages to apprehend drug smugglers.
Police on September 4 arrested two youths, identified as Pawan of Bir Talab and Gurwinder Singh and recovered 400 gm of heroin from their possession in Bir Talab village in Bathinda district. After arresting Pawan and seizing 400 grams of heroin from his possession, the police arrested Gurwinder Singh, a college student, based on Pawan’s disclosure.
The Tarn Taran police on September 4 busted a drug and hawala racket by arresting six individuals identified as Lovejit Singh alias Lovepreet Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Sukhmanjit Singh, Shashank Wadhwan, and his two brothers, Abhishek Wadhwan and Neeraj Wadhwan. Police also recovered a .315 bore pistol, 1.2 kilograms of heroin, and INR 1.14 crore in drug money from their possession. Lovejit, Sukhwinder, and Sukhmanjit were arrested in Amritsar, Punjab, while Shashank, Abhishek, and Neeraj were arrested in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Police on September 4 arrested one person, identified as Vishal Kumar and seized 10 grams of heroin and a pistol of .315 bore from his possession, near Lalheri village in Ludhiana district. Another .315 bore pistol was also recovered, following his interrogation.