Punjab Police team chasing drug cartel in Jaisalmer intercept Haryana tourists by mistake

The incident occurred around 11 am Wednesday near the Neeraj bus stand, around 300 meter from Kotwali police station.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Nilabh Kishore, Additional Director General Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), Punjab, said that the Punjab Police team was on the trail of a drug cartel and that there was credible information about the location of members of the cartel in general area of Jaisalmer and that they were travelling in a car with Haryana registration number.

“Our team pointed the weapon out of caution as one cannot take any chances when dealing with drug cartels. While they were in plain clothes there were uniformed personnel too accompanying the team and the Rajasthan Police too had been informed about the operation. The persons who were stopped didn’t complain when they were informed about the misunderstanding,” said the ADGP.

Jaisalmer SP Abhishek Shivhare said, “A six-member team of Punjab Anti-Narcotics Task Force reached Jaisalmer Wednesday. They had a tip off about the location of an absconding criminal in an NDPS case. But the passengers in the vehicles were found to be tourists.”

The Anti-Narcotics Task Force had arrested a notorious drug smuggler last week and recovered 50 kg heroin from him. Police said investigations in this regard have been taking place in coordination with police forces of several states, including Rajasthan.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that this trans-border shipment of 50 kg heroin was sent by Pak-based ISI supported smugglers.

He added that the arrested accused Sandeep alias Seepa, is a history-sheeter with eight criminal cases, including five under the NDPS Act, registered against him, indicating his deep involvement in organised drug trafficking. He was recently released from Kapurthala Jail, he said.

Kishore added that acting on precise technical intelligence, ANTF teams were tracking the movement of the accused after he came out from the jail earlier this month. Intelligence suggested that the suspect had collected a heavy consignment of contraband from the border village of Baggeke Utar in Jalalabad, he said.

Curated For You

India slams Pakistan’s Ayodhya Ram Temple flag hoisting remarks: ‘No moral standing to lecture others’

Gautam Gambhir’s team buried India’s proud home record without a fight

ECI says agitation by BLOs in Kolkata ‘serious security breach’, seeks action-taken report from police within 48 hours