Chandigarh, September 15: Army deserter Amritpal Singh alias Fauji, a key figure in a heroin smuggling racket linked to Pakistan, has been arrested by the Jalandhar counter intelligence unit and 12.5 kg heroin has been seized from his possession, Punjab Police Director General Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday.
The suspect, a resident of Tarn Taran, had been on the run since August when his accomplice Sartaj was arrested at a bus stand in Jammu with 33 kg of heroin.
DGP Yadav said the group had international links and its leader was Amrit Pal Singh Baath, a native of Mianpur village in Tarn Taran, and was currently operating from Dubai.
Baath is a notorious gangster and smuggler and 15 to 20 cases, including two murders, have been registered against him in various police stations in Punjab.
Acting swiftly on reliable intelligence, the Jalandhar Counter Intelligence Team set up a special check post at the canal bridge at Koniwal village in Jalandhar and arrested Amritpal Singh after seizing 200 grams of heroin, the IGP said while adding that after further investigation, based on the information disclosed by the accused, they seized 12.4 kg of heroin from the precise location of the Tarn Taran-Jodhpur village link road.
He added that the police team also seized the motorcycle (PB 08 EL 5952) driven by accused Amritpal Singh.
Sharing more details, Assistant Inspector General Navjot Singh Mahal said that during interrogation, the arrested suspect revealed that he and his accomplices had procured 50 kg of heroin from Akhnoor district last month, of which 33 kg belonged to his accomplice Sartaj, who was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in early August this year.
He said after the arrest of his accomplice, Amritpal Singh hid the remaining heroin at an abandoned location, adding that further investigations were underway to establish the links in the case.
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