SANGRUR: The district cops on Monday evening busted an interstate drug trafficking network by arresting two drug peddlers from the outskirts of
Maanwala village near Dhuri. Four tonnes of
charas, 250 intoxicant tablets and Rs 17 lakh in cash were recovered from their possession.
The accused were identified as
Pritpal Singh, alias Mani, of Tohana in
Haryana, and Sham Lal, alias Kala, of Sangrur.
Senior Superintendent of Police (
SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said the accused brought the contraband from their contacts in the neighbouring towns of the state of Haryana and then would distribute the same across Punjab using their own network of peddlers. He said this was the second time that the accused were ferrying contraband into the state, but were nabbed by the police on the basis of a tip-off received by the district police. A pick-up truck bearing a Haryana registration number has also been confiscated by the cops.
It was later learnt that Pritpal, who started as a trader of tobacco products in Tohana later started supplying drugs in Sangrur and Barnala districts. Kala used to purchase Charas at Rs 800 per 10 grams and sold it at Rs 1,200 per 10 grams here, Sidhu said.
The SSP said police investigators had also identified one Ashish Kumar of Barnala, who would further distribute the drugs amongst other peddlers. The police learnt that Rs 17 lakh recovered from the accused had been collected by Pritpal from people whom he would sell the drugs.
Sidhu said investigators were now trying to break the supply chain between the drug peddlers. A case under Sections 21, 22, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985 has been registered against the accused at the Sadar police station in Dhuri, the SSP said.
The accused were identified as Pritpal Singh, alias Mani, of Tohana in Haryana, and Sham Lal, alias Kala, of Sangrur.