DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Police on Thursday said it has busted two international narco-trafficking cartels with arrest of six drug smugglers, one of whom was in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers.

Police said one cartel was being operated under the garb of livestock trade for years. A total of 4 kg of heroin was recovered.

According to preliminary investigation, one of the module was run by Sevenbir who disguised his operations livestock trade.

He would receive the consignments in the vicinity of his village which lies very close to the international border, police said.

Jasbir Kaur who was also arrested has links to the cartel of the infamous smuggler Ranjeet alias Cheeta and maintained contact with smugglers within India and across the border.

Further investigations are on to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he added.

Sharing details of the operation, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that both the drug trafficking modules were busted based on on intel. The CP said Sevenbir was running the cartel in the garb of sale and purchase of goats for the past five years from which he amassed wealth to build a large house in his village apart from acquiring other properties.

He has been receiving narcotic consignments through a drone in the vicinity of his village which lies very close to the international border, the officer said.

After retrieval, he used to conceal the contraband in his relatives' home and later, used to distribute through his associates, he said.

Further investigations are on to unravel both the modules and more arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days, he added.

Two separate FIRs have been lodged in this regard in Amritsar, said police.

Those arrested have been identified as Vishal Singh (23) of village Guru Ki Wadali in Amritsar, Didar Singh alias Kali (50) of village Jathaul in Amritsar, Sevenbir Singh (25) of village Burj Sarai Amant Khan in Tarn Taran, Harjit Singh (38) alias Jita of Baba Deep Singh Colony in Amritsar, Jaj Singh (19) of Mohalla Chetuan in Amritsar and Jasbir Kaur (60) of Kapatgarh in Amritsar.

(editor@dailyworld.in)