Assets of 7 notable drug dealers seized in Tarn Taran dist
Assets of seven smugglers worth ₹4 crore freezed; all belong to border villages notorious
Police have come down hard on notorious drug smugglers of Tarn Taran, which is one of the worst drug-hit district of Punjab, by freezing their assets.
Up till now, the properties of seven smugglers , worth around ₹4 crore has been siezed, while the process of freezing the property of other smugglers is ‘being followed up expeditiously’, said the police.
The border district where more than 30,000 addicts are being treated at drug de-addiction centres is known to be a hub of drug trade and drug abuse. The Tarn Taran administration has already declared 66 of the total 547 district villages as ‘much-afflicted’.
Police sources said that on Monday, assets worth ₹2.37 crore of four bigtime smugglers who were involved in smuggling of commercial quantity of heroin were freezed. The assets were seized on the orders of Competent Authority (CA)—a statutory authority under the smugglers and foreign exchange manipulators (forfeiture of property) act 1976 and under the narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances act 1985.
Smugglers and their properties
Earlier on Saturday, Tarn Taran police had seized assets of three drug smugglers worth ₹1.53 crore. All seven accused whose properties have been seized belong to border villages notorious for drug trade.
On Monday, Sukhibr Singh’s assets worth ₹34.64 lakh which included a residential house and agriculture land were seized. A resident of Kasel village, he was booked in 2011 with 2 kg heroin in his possession.
Similarly, Dilsher Singh’s properties worth ₹36 lakh were siezed. Arrested with 1.3 kg heroin in 2013, he belongs to Havellian village—also known as ‘village of drug smugglers’.
Another smuggled from Havellian village, Mukhtiar Singh’s assets worth ₹1.20 crore were seized. He was arrested with 1 kg heroin in 2014. The assets of Chamkaur Singh of Sara-E-Amanat Khan village who was held with 2.5 kg heroin in 2014, have also been seized. On Saturday, Sukhbir Singh’s properties worth ₹73.22 lakh were seized. The Havelian village resident was arrested with 3kg heroin.
Assets of Balkar Singh, resident of Kalas village who was held with 1kg of heroin, worth ₹19.29 lakh was seized. Property worth ₹60.14 lakh of Jasbir Singh, resident of village Cheema Kalan, was also freezed. He was arrested with 1kg heroin.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Tarn Taran, Dhurruv Dahiya said the war against drugs was their top priority. “We will remain dedicated for sustained strict action against drug peddlers. Seizures of properties will break their backbone and economic support system. We are pursuing more such cases with the concerned authorities.”