A day after the arrest of five alleged drug smugglers following a brief police encounter near Nangal, the Ropar police have intensified efforts to trace their suspected links with local drug peddlers operating in Nangal and adjoining border areas of Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, all the five accused on Friday were produced before the Judicial Magistrate at Nangal, who remanded them in police custody till June 22.
Police sources told The Tribune that preliminary investigations suggest the accused had travelled to Nangal to deliver a consignment of heroin to local peddlers active in the region. Investigators are now focusing on identifying the intended recipients of the narcotics and uncovering the network that facilitated the movement of drugs into the area.
The five accused were arrested on Thursday after a police team intercepted their vehicle near Naya Nangal following a specific intelligence input. During the operation, the suspects allegedly opened fire on the police party while attempting to flee.
In the ensuing action, one of the accused sustained a bullet injury and was later admitted to BBMB Hospital, Nangal.
Sources said investigators suspect that the arrested smugglers were part of a larger inter-state drug trafficking network supplying heroin to peddlers in Nangal and nearby areas along the Punjab-Himachal border. While no further arrests have been made so far, police teams have been investigation and gathering intelligence to identify local contacts who may have been awaiting the delivery.
“The focus of the investigation has now shifted towards establishing the forward linkages of the accused. The police are trying to identify the local peddlers who were allegedly in contact with them and were expected to receive the heroin consignment,” a source said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Lovepreet Singh of Mohali district, Rohit of Hisar, Shubham of Jind, Parikshit of Sonipat and Lehmastak Pratap Singh of Chandigarh.
During the operation, police recovered 150 grams of heroin, a .32 bore pistol loaded with five live cartridges and the Hyundai Accent car being used by the accused.
SSP, Ropar, Maninder Singh said the accused were being produced before a court on Friday. “We will seek their police remand for further investigation. The interrogation of the accused is expected to provide important leads regarding the source of the heroin as well as the persons to whom the consignment was to be delivered,” he said.
Police officials believe custodial interrogation could help uncover both backward and forward linkages of the network, including suppliers, transporters and local distributors involved in the trade.
A case under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act has already been registered.
