A Punjab Police constable, deployed with the state government’s anti-drone system to keep tabs on cross-border narcotic smuggling in Tarn Taran district, was held with 15 kg of heroin, police said on Wednesday.

“Constable Karandeep Singh, a resident of Bhuse village, was arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) at a naka in the Sarai Amanat Khan area of the district,” Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police Surendra Lamba said.

According to police, the BSF intercepted a suspicious car at the checkpoint and a search resulted in the recovery of 15kg heroin. Karandeep was driving the vehicle, they added. Tarn Taran deputy superintendent of police Sukhbir Singh said Karandeep was posted at the anti-drone system in the jurisdiction of the Khalra police station.

The Punjab government installed its own anti-drone system in the border areas in August last year. The anti-drone system was called ‘Baaz Akh’ (Hawk Eye), and it was projected as the second line of defence in the border districts in coordination with the Border Security Force.

The initiative was aimed at checking the smuggling of drugs and weapons through drones from Pakistan. At that time, chief minister Bhagwant Mann had said Punjab was the first state to have its own such system deployed at the border areas. Punjab shares a 553-kilometre border with Pakistan, spanning the districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Pathankot, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Gurdaspur.

“The recovered contraband and the accused police employee have been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which has launched a comprehensive investigation to unearth the wider nexus behind the cross-border smuggling operation,” said Sarai Amanat Khan police station in-charge Raj Kumar.

Woman among 2 held with 8 kg heroin

Pathankot police have busted a cross-border heroin smuggling module, arresting two of its operatives, including a woman, and seizing over 7.8 kg of heroin in a coordinated two-stage operation, officials said.

The police arrested Gurpanth, a resident of Amritsar Rural’s Vadala village and his associate Harmanjeet Kaur, a resident of Gurdaspur’s Dhianpur.

Director general of police Gaurav Yadav said that further investigation is underway to trace the wider narcotics network, follow the financial trail and identify other persons involved.

Pathankot SSP Manpreet Singh said that acting on credible intelligence, a special branch team intercepted suspect Gurpanth and recovered 590 grams of heroin from his possession. Following his sustained interrogation and forensic examination of his mobile phone, police teams raided a rented accommodation in Fatehgarh Churian, he said. He added that the raid led to the arrest of his female accomplice, Harmanjeet, and the seizure of an additional 7.2 kg of heroin from the premises, taking the total recovery to 7.8 kg.

The SSP said that preliminary investigations have established clear cross-border linkages, with packets carrying distinctive seal impressions with Pakistani markings were also recovered. An FIR has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Police Station Sadar, Pathankot.