Chandigarh: Punjab police on Friday claimed to have busted a cross-border drug and weapon smuggling cartel with the arrest of 12 persons, including kingpin identified as Manjeet Singh alias Bhola of village Jhanjoti in Ajnala.
Other 11 arrested persons have been identified as Aniket Verma, Jobanpreet Singh, Babli, Harpreet, Amritpal Singh, Reshma, Harshpreet, Mandeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lovepreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh, all residents of Amritsar district.
Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said that police teams have recovered 2.19 kg heroin, three sophisticated pistols including two automatic and Rs 2.60 lakh drug money from their possession, besides, impounding their Toyota Fortuner car.
DGP Yadav said that accused Manjeet alias Bhola, who is a key player, was in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers/handlers and was receiving consignments of drugs and weapons from across the border.
Probe revealed that consignments were being dropped at Ramdas and Ajnala border sectors with the help of drones, he added.
Commissioner of Police (CP), Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said that following a reliable input that accused Aniket has been into the drug smuggling business, police teams have successfully apprehended him.
The arrest of Aniket unearthed the entire network and led to the arrest of kingpin Manjeet Bhola and his accomplices from different locations, he said, while adding that five of the accused persons have been arrested from Jammu and Kashmir with the help of J&K police.
