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BSF constable, two others held in Punjab for cross-border smuggling of drugs and…

A BSF constable and two others have been arrested in connection with a cross-border smuggling racket of drugs and weapons, the Punjab Police said on Sunday.

A .30 bore pistol of Chinese make along with five live cartridges and Rs 24.50 lakh were recovered from the three accused, identified as Border Security Force Constable Rajendra Prashad and two locals, Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh, Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said.

The Punjab Police is working to nab kingpin Satnam Singh alias Satta, extradited from Muscat, Oman, where he had fled after he was declared a proclaimed offender in two smuggling cases. He used a fake passport and Aadhaar card issued in the name of Gurmeet Singh to escape, Gupta said, adding that the accused had five cases of smuggling registered against him earlier.

The BSF constable is a resident of Ganga Nagar district of Rajasthan and was posted at a border outpost at Chhina village in Tarn Taran district.

He is the second BSF constable to be arrested recently by the Punjab police in a cross-border smuggling racket. A few days earlier, the police had arrested another BSF constable, Sumit Kumar, posted at Sambha in Jammu and Kashmir, in another similar smuggling case.

Acting on a tip-off, a Jalandhar Rural police team had on July 26 apprehended two smugglers, who were travelling in a car from Delhi. The police had recovered 25 gm of heroin from them. On questioning, the duo identified themselves as Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh.

Further investigation led to the recovery of the pistol along with five live rounds. During questioning, the duo also revealed that they were working with a cross-border smuggler, Satnam Singh alias Satta, a resident of Taran Tarn district who was closely linked with Pakistan-based smugglers for smuggling of drugs and weapons from Pakistan. They also disclosed that BSF constable Rajendra Prashad was a part of the smuggling racket.

The DGP said that he contacted his counterparts in the BSF and Rajasthan, DGP BSF and DGP Rajasthan, and asked for help from the central agencies, for arresting the BSF constable, who was apprehended by the Punjab Police from his residence in Rawala Mandi, where he was on leave.

During questioning, the BSF constable revealed that he had been roped into the drug smuggling racket by Satnam Singh, who promised him money for ignoring the smuggling of arms and narcotics consignment through his border post. He then allowed the gang to bring in a consignment of 17 kg of heroin and two foreign-made pistols in May. This time again, Satnam Singh, in connivance with Rajendra Prashad, Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh, was to bring in another consignment of heroin and arms from his Pakistan-based handlers. Satnam had allegedly given Rs 5 lakh and a mobile phone to Prashad in advance for receiving this composite consignment.

The DGP said out of Rs 24.5 lakh, Rs 15 lakh was recovered from the residence of Satnam Singh, Rs 5 lakh from the BSF constable and Rs 4.5 lakh from Gurjant Singh.

Source: HindustanTimes