3 peddlers wanted in 72.5 kg heroin haul in Mumbai nabbed in Punjab's Gurdaspur

In a major breakthrough in the ongoing war on drug smugglers and peddlers in Punjab at the behest of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Police on Thursday arrested three high-profile smugglers wanted in connection with a 72.5 kg heroin haul from Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai. The peddlers were rounded up from Gurdaspur district, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Thursday.

The contraband, which was kept concealed in the door border of the container containing white marble tiles, was jointly recovered by the teams of Punjab Police and

in July, this year, stated a government release, adding that the container was imported by a Delhi-based importer.

The arrested drug smugglers were identified as Gurwinder Singh alias Mehak (27) from Pandori in Amritsar, Gursewak Singh alias Sewak (25) from Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran and Manjit Singh alias Soni (34) from Mahwa in Amritsar. The trio was actively involved in a high-level trans-border and inter-state drug smuggling in Punjab, DGP Yadav said, adding that following reliable inputs, Gurdaspur Police launched a special operation on Wednesday evening and arrested the accused persons after intercepting an SUV Mahindra Thar (PB46AH0003) at Amritsar-Jammu Highway in the Dhariwal area of Gurdaspur.

The police team also recovered a revolver along with six live cartridges of 9mm and six live cartridges of .32 bore during the search of the vehicle, he added.

Earlier, the Mumbai ATS had apprehended Harsimran Sethi from Delhi, who ordered the consignment and his aide, Mohinder Singh Rathore, who was working as a clearing agent.

The DGP said that during the investigation, Mumbai ATS had nominated Gurwinder, Gursewak and Manjit as recipients of the container. They also went to Delhi to clear the consignment.

SSP Gurdaspur Deepak Hilori said Gurwinder Singh and Manjit were also wanted by the Amritsar Rural Police in an attempt to murder case in which they fired upon a police party in Amritsar Rural district in October 2020.

( With inputs from ANI )