3 nabbed with Rs 2.6cr heroin after 20km chase

Ludhiana: Following a 20-km chase, the Special Task Force (STF), Ludhiana, nabbed three men with 660g heroin worth Rs 2.6 crore from Machhiwara on Wednesday.
The accused were identified as Harsimranjit Singh, 37, of Machhiwara; Rakesh Kumar, 30, of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar; and Gurmukh Singh, 31, of Punniya village, Ludhiana. The STF team had got a tip-off about the accused travelling in a car and going from Machhiwara to Kohara.
“We set up a trap to nab the accused. But the accused came to know about our plan, following which they took the car towards Bhamiya Kalan. After a chase of nearly 20 kilometres, the accused reached busy Gandhi Nagar market of Machhiwara where their car rammed into an electricity pole. Afterwards, the accused alighted from the car and started running in the busy market,” Inspector Harbans Singh, in-charge STF Ludhiana range.
“But STF teams chased them down. On frisking, the team found 660g heroin from them,” said the inspector.
The official said while Harsimranjit was a transporter, Gurmukh and Rakesh worked as a driver and laboratory technician, respectively. The trio has been into drug peddling for the past two years, he added.
Inspector Harbans said all the accused are drug addicts who need 2g heroin every day. The accused have confessed that they used to procure contraband from a Delhi-based Nigerian and would further sell it among their customers in and around Ludhiana.
The official said Gurmukh used to go for small deliveries, but for bigger deals, all the accused used to deal and supply drugs together.
All three accused have been facing trials in several cases of drug peddling and were also lodged in jail. Using the money earned through drug peddling, Harsimranjit had managed to buy three buses for his transportation business.