In a major triumph against Pakistan sponsored narco-terror, the Punjab police have exposed the link of narco-terrorism networks in the country. Punjab police arrested one Ranjeet Singh, also known as Rana alias Cheeta, who is said to be a ‘big fish’ in the ISI controlled network. He is also known for the links with the Hizbul Commander Riyaz Naikoo, who was eliminated by the forces in Kashmir in recent days.
As per the official statement, Ranjeet is one of the key links in the network engaged in smuggling of a large number of composite consignments of drugs and illegal weapons through the Indo-Pak border through the legal land route of ICP Attari and also across the border fencing on Indo-Pak border in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Punjab police described Ranjeet Singh as one of the biggest drug smugglers of India. Along with him, his brother Gagandeep alias Bhola was also arrested from Begu village in Sirsa, Haryana.
532 Kgs Heroin seized and 52 kg of mixed narcotics
Ranjit Singh is alleged of smuggling in 532 kgs of Heroin and 52 kg of mixed narcotics, worth rupees 2700 crore from Pakistan in a consignment of 600 bags of rock salt, through the Integrated Check Post at Attari, Amritsar on June 29, 2019.
As per reports, the Customs department of Amritsar has seized one of the biggest hauls of 532 kg of suspected heroin and 52 kg of suspected mixed narcotics at ICP in June 2019. Amritsar and arrested two persons, Tariq Ahmed Lone who is a resident of Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir, and Gurpinder Singh who lives in Amritsar.
Chief Minister Amrinder Singh lauded the Punjab police for this massive success in their operation against terrorists and drug smugglers despite the lockdown and other measures applied by the government to eliminate the spread of coronavirus. He congratulated DGP Dinkar Gupta for the arrest of Hilal Ahmad Wagay, an overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen. Notably, the inputs shared by Punjab police have played an important role in the operations of Jammu and Kashmir against Riaz Ahmad Naikoo. Two more operatives were also nabbed after May 5.
Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh further added that Punjab police had shared Hilal’s disclosure with the central government and its agencies. During the course of the investigation, footage from the CCTV camera points on the followed route was gathered and examined followed by technical analysis. That led to the apprehension of Bikram Singh alias Vicky and his brother Maninder Singh alias Mani with 1 kg of heroin and the 32.25 lakh currency on May 5, 2020.
Interrogation revealed Cheeta, Shera and Sarwan were active nodes in smuggling with Pakistan’s ISI
Their interrogation revealed that both Bikram and Maninder with their cousins Ranjeet Singh alias Cheeta, Iqbal Singh alias Shera, and Sarwan Singh were dealing in drug smuggling across the border and that Bikram had come to deliver rupees 29 lakh drug money to hilal Ahmad after getting instructions of Cheetah, Iqbal Singh alias Shera and Sarwan Singh.
Chief Minister revealed that Ranjeet Cheeta was one of the most active links of the extensive and also a common network of drug smugglers/couriers set up by Pakistan’s ISI to push in composite consignments of drugs, weapons, counterfeit currency from Pakistan into Punjab through various means that including drones.
Reportedly, He was convicted in 2008, 2009, and 2011, etc, for heroin smuggling. He was awarded 12 years rigorous punishment for smuggling of 5 kg heroin but later acquitted in March 2018 by giving him benefit of doubt.
The Chief Minister revealed that in 2019 had witnessed a record of heroin seizures of about 464 kgs, which was largest ever for any single year. There had been a steady increase in heroin seizures since his government took. The Chief Minister said that heroin seizures jumped five times between 2016 (91 kgs) and 2019 (464 kgs).
