TURKEY-BASED SMUGGLER BACKED NARCO-HAWALA CARTEL BUSTED IN AMRITSAR; THREE HELD WITH ₹1.06 CR DRUG MONEY, 1.10 KG HEROIN

TURKEY-BASED SMUGGLER BACKED NARCO-HAWALA CARTEL BUSTED IN AMRITSAR; THREE HELD WITH ₹1.06 CR DRUG MONEY, 1.10 KG HEROIN

— ARRESTED ACCUSED GURDEEP WAS OPERATING LOCAL NETWORK ON DIRECTIONS OF HIS TURKEY-BASED HANDLER NAV BHULLAR: DGP GAURAV YADAV

— FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ARE ON; MORE ARRESTS AND RECOVERIES LIKELY IN COMING DAYS: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, May 12:

          Dealing a major blow to an international drug smuggling and hawala cartel amidst the ongoing anti-drugs campaign Yudh Nashian Virudh launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Commissionerate Police Amritsar busted a narco-hawala cartel linked to Turkey-based smuggler Navpreet Singh alias Nav Bhullar with the arrest of his three operatives, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.

          Those arrested have been identified as Gurdeep Singh alias Saab (35), a taxi driver from Amritsar, Pardeep Sharma (29), a garment shop worker from Bikaner in Rajasthan and Mani Sharma (36), a Ludhiana-based garments businessman. Police teams have recovered 1.10 kg heroin, ₹1.06 crore hawala money (₹84.02 lakh in cash & ₹22 lakh frozen in bank accounts), one cash counting machine, besides, impounding their Swift Dzire car (without number plate).

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that accused Gurdeep was operating the local network of hawala and drugs smuggling on directions of his handler Nav Bhullar, who had provided him a house to use it as a hideout in Amritsar and all the logistic support to run the cartel. Accused Nav bhullar is wanted in big hauls of drug and hawala cases by different centre and state agencies, he added.

          The DGP said that further investigation is underway to trace backward and forward linkages of the cartel.

          Sharing operation details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on a specific intelligence input, Incharge CIA-1 Amolakdeep Singh along with the police team, strategically formed different teams and apprehended Gurdeep Singh alias Saab from near Lok Heart School, Ram Tirath Road, Amritsar and recovered the drug consignment and drug money from his possession. The operation was conducted under the supervision of DCP Detective Ravinderpal Singh, ADCP Detective Jagbinder Singh and ACP Detective Harminder Singh Sandhu.

          The CP said that during interrogation, accused Gurdeep Singh mentioned about the involvement of accused persons Pardeep Sharma and Mani Sharma, and also revealed that the latter had delivered ₹5 lakh each in drug money. Following the revelations police teams have successfully tracked both the accused persons and arrested them, he said, while adding that further investigations are on.

          A case FIR No. 76 dated 06-05-2025 has been registered under sections 21-C, 27-A, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Cantonment in Amritsar.