Chandigarh, Jun 21 (PTI) Punjab Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a cross-border smuggling module backed by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI with the arrest of two of its operatives from Mohali.
Police teams also seized two pistols along with 10 cartridges from the possession of the duo, Additional IG, State Special Operation Cell, Mohali, Ashwani Kapur said.
Those arrested have been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gora alias Armaan Chauhan, a resident of village Kot Ise Khan in Moga and Rohit Singh, a resident of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, he said.
Both have a criminal background as cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act are registered against them in Punjab. They were also wanted by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a commercial quantity drug smuggling case registered in Rajasthan, he said.
In an official statement, Kapur said preliminary investigations suggest that the two are key members of a highly organised cross-border smuggling module that had direct links with Pakistan-based drug smugglers.
The module was actively involved in smuggling of contraband across the India-Pakistan border, posing a significant threat to national security, he said.
Gurpreet Singh, who is a model and singer, played a crucial role in facilitating the movement of ‘hawala’ money — an illegal and clandestine method of transferring funds — which enabled the financing of cross-border smuggling activities, he said.
Rohit Singh used to provide location coordinates to Pakistan entities along the Rajasthan and Punjab border via Gurpreet Singh and thus facilitated the retrieval of heroin consignments via drones.
Kapur said further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other individuals associated with the module. PTI SUN RHL
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