Batala, 11 April (H.S.): Batala Police has busted a cross-border drug and illegal weapon smuggling racket with the arrest of three accused persons, including a juvenile, and recovered 6.5 kg heroin, one .30 caliber pistol along with six live cartridges, and ₹1 lakh drug money from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.
Those arrested have been identified as Nishan Singh, a resident of Mulianwal in Batala, Ravipal Singh, a resident of Raipur and one Juvenile. Apart from recovering contraband and drug money, the police teams have also impounded their Toyota Fortuner car.
The development came following the meticulous investigation into the backward and forward linkages and sustained interrogation of two accused persons identified as Vansh and Sukhchain alias Jashan, who were arrested in connection with extortion-related firing incident occurred in the jurisdiction of Police Station Civil Lines in Batala on March 30, 2026. Two .30 bore pistols were recovered from their possession.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the significant recovery of drugs and weapons highlights the strong nexus between extortion, drug trafficking, and illegal arms networks. Preliminary investigation has revealed that weapons were being supplied to operatives within the network, he said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Border Range Sandeep Goel said that probe has revealed that the arrested accused persons were acting on the directions of their foreign-based handler.
Further investigation is underway to establish both forward and backward linkages in this case to dismantle the entire network, he added.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Batala Mehtab Singh said that during the investigation, accused Vansh and Sukhchain disclosed that they had received weapons from suspects one is juvenile and other is identified as Ravipal. Acting swiftly on their disclosures, police teams have arrested Ravipal Singh and his juvenile accomplice, who confessed to coordinating the smuggling of weapons and drugs.
Accused Ravipal revealed that he had delivered a consignment to Nishan Singh on the directions of their overseas handler, said the SSP, while adding that acting on this lead, police teams intercepted Nishan Singh’s Fortuner car near Kamla Devi Avenue in Amritsar and arrested him leading to the recovery of 6.5 kg heroin, one .30 caliber pistol along with 6 live rounds, and ₹1 lakh drug money from his possession.
In this regard, a case FIR no. 103 dated 31/3/2026 under sections 109 and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act was already registered at Police Station Civil Lines in Batala.
Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH
