The Ludhiana Police on Saturday claimed to have busted an inter-state drug peddling gang allegedly involved in supply of ganja (cannabis), opium and poppy husk into Punjab. Police have arrested four members of the gang and claimed recovery of 2.04 quintals of ganja, 3 kg poppy husk and 500 gram of opium from them, allegedly smuggled from Odisha.
Ludhiana CP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that on a tip off, CIA staff-I had laid a trap on GT Road Sahnewal when they stopped two trucks coming from Mandi Gobindgarh side. He said that on searching the truck, police recovered 2.04 quintals of ganja, 3 kg poppy husk and 500 gram of opium.
Police have apprehended truck drivers Avninder Singh and Pushpinder Singh, both residents of Khera village, Ludhiana, along with truck owners Kuldeep Singh and Gurjeet Singh, both residents of Fatehgarh Sahib.
TCP said that during investigation, the accused revealed that he had been carrying out the drug smuggling network in the garb of transportation business. They delivered medicines and tyres in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; from where they loaded raw iron material in their truck for delivery to Mandi Gobindgarh along with the drugs meant for supply in Ludhiana and nearby districts. He further mentioned that the accused were to get Rs 1.2 lakh in lieu of delivering drugs at Ludhiana.
Bhullar said that the accused were in the transport business for decades and had been carrying out this illegal activity in the garb of their business. He said that a case has been registered under the NDPS Act.