A Punjab Police inspector has been arrested by the state's anti-drugs Special Task Force (STF) after 7 kg of drugs — besides a lot of ammunition — was seized from two of his residences in the state. Inderjit Singh had hitherto been a "celebrated" policeman who had reportedly busted several drug rings.
Singh's case is oddly reminiscent of the 2016 Hindi film Udta Punjab, which showed how involves policemen were in the smuggling and delivery of drugs in a state whose entire generation of youngsters has developed a taste for narcotics.
According to local reports, STF members detained Singh on on the night of Monday, June 12, even as others raided his residences in Jalandhar and Phagwara. STF in-charge ADGP Harpreet Sidhu told reporters on Tuesday morning that Inderjit Singh had been booked under sections of the Arms Act and The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Sidhu added that "3 kg smack and 4 kg heroin" had been seized from a government residential quarter allotted to Inderjit Singh in Phagwara. "Smack" is the street-name for the narcotic that is heroin, so why Sidhu chose to differentiate between the two is not known yet. Meanwhile, the 4 kg heroin recovered is believed to have a street value of Rs 20 crore.
The STF chief also said that "383 rounds of bores including those of AK-47, a 9-mm Italy-made pistol, a .38-bore revolver, an AK-47 assault rifle, and Rs 16.50 lakh and £3,550 in cash" were also recovered in the raids.
