124 drug smugglers held in statewide search ops

Police officer was taking online payments via UPI from inmates, says Sangrur SSP

- HT Correspondent

SANGRUR: A deputy superintendent of police (DSP), posted in Sangrur jail, a Class 4 employee identified as Parshant, are among the 19 arrested for allegedly facilitating the smuggling of drugs and other banned items inside the prison premises, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday.

"Acting on credible intelligence, a thorough search was conducted inside the jail, resulting in the seizure of 12 mobile phones, four smartwatches, 50 grams of opium, 12 grams of heroin, and other contraband items. Preliminary inquiries revealed the involvement of the Class 4 employee, Parshant Majumdar, in facilitating these illicit activities," the DGP said, in a press statement.

The DGP added that pursuing the backward and forward linkages, the investigation further led to the arrest of an Amritsar-based drug smuggler, identified as Manpreet Singh, who is an associate of inmate Gurvinder Singh, currently lodged in Sangrur Jail.

Police teams recovered 4kg heroin, ₹5.5 lakh in drug money and one 9MM Glock pistol along with two live cartridges from Manpreet's possession, police said.

Giving details, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sartaj Singh Chahal said that DSP (security) Gurpreet Singh was arrested on May 13 after a probe found that he was actively involved in the smuggling of contrabands and mobile phones into the jail premises.