Punjab police nabs wanted heroin smuggler Rajinder to bust narco-terror racket with KLF links

Punjab police nabs wanted heroin smuggler Rajinder to bust narco-terror racket with KLF links

Police constable also apprehended for facilitating the passage of drugs & money during the lockdown

Rs. 12 cr worth hawala transactions uncovered, trail also leads to arrest of Rajinder’s Brother-in-law from UP

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, Chandigarh, August 26:
The Punjab Police has busted an international narco-terror racket with links to the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), with the arrest of wanted heroin smuggler Rajinder Singh @ Ganja @ Mithu, and a police constable who was allegedly facilitating safe movement of the drugs and money during the lockdown period.
Rajinder’s brother-in-law has also been arrested from Uttar Pradesh for his involvement in the racket, which has been traced to associates of the now deceased notorious terrorist Harmeet Singh @ PhD, according to DGP Dinkar Gupta.
A .32 bore pistol and 4 live cartridges were recovered from the possession of Rajinder, with
530 gm heroin seized later from his flat at Riverdale Aerovista, Zirakpur, said Gupta. A criminal case under Arms and NDPS Act has been registered at PS SSOC, SAS Nagar against Rajinder, who has several other FIRs registered against him in various parts of Punjab, and has been involved in several recent hawala transactions to the tune of Rs 12 crore.
Rajinder has told the police that that he was associated in the distribution network of drug supply which was being arranged by Navpreet Singh @ Nav, a notorious smuggler wanted by Punjab police in murder and many drug cases. He further confessed that he had supplied huge quantities of drugs to various smugglers in different parts of Punjab on the direction of Navpreet Singh.
The DGP said Rajinder used to receive the drug consignments mostly coming from Srinagar and Delhi to distribute further in Punjab. The funds generated out of drug business were sent back to Navpreet through hawala channels. In April 2020 too, Police Commissionerate, Amritsar, had arrested one Hizbul terrorist Hilal Ahmed Wagay when he came to collect drug money on the instructions of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, a slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
Rajinder Singh @ Ganja made Aadhar card and passport with the help of fake documents from U.P. and was trying to escape from India in the near future, said the DGP, adding that the accused had also made a lot of property in and around Chandigarh and Amritsar areas.
Giving details of the arrests, the DGP said Rajinder Singh @ Ganja @ Mithu s/o Jaswant Singh r/o Jandiala Guru, Amritsar, reported to be a close associate of absconding notorious drug smuggler Navpreet Singh @ Nav s/o Gurdev Singh r/o Vill. Wazir Bhullar, Beas, Amritsar, was apprehended from the area of Zirakpur on 19.08.2020.
Interrogation of Rajinder led to the arrest of his brother-in-law Chirag Rathi from Muzaffarnagar, and also Karamjit Singh, a police constable from Sri Muktsar Sahib currently posted as driver with Deputy Director, Chief Chemical Examiner, Kharar, said the DGP. Rajinder had provided a large sum of money to his brother-in-law, who has admitted that he, along with his maternal uncle, had invested more than one crore drug money in purchasing properties and vehicles.
Among the major cases Rajinder was involved in was the FIR dated 31.05.2019, registered under various sections of Arms Act and NDPS Act at PS Tarsikka, Distt. Amritsar (Rural), now under investigation by NIA. This FIR was registered against Jajbir Singh @ Jajj of KLF outfit and close associate of Harmeet Singh @ PhD. Jajbir @ Jajj had also confessed during his interrogation that he used to supply heroin through Rajinder Singh @ Ganja in his narco-terror link. Later, in a separate case, 2 hand grenades were recovered from the possession of Jajbir Singh which were supplied by Harmeet Singh @ PhD (now dead) from across the border.
In the follow up action in the Amritsar case, Ranjit Singh @ Cheetah, a notorious absconding drug smuggler was arrested and confessed that he used to supply part of consignment of drugs to one Harpreet Singh @ Chintu r/o Phillaur. Navpreet Singh @ Nav also used to supply huge amount of heroin to Harpreet Singh @ Chintu. However, later he conspired to kill Harpreet Singh @ Chintu with the help of Nekdeep Singh @ Sunny due to rivalry in drug trade. It was then that Rajinder Singh @ Ganja started looking after the distribution network of heroin in Punjab at the behest of Navpreet Singh.
Rajinder Singh @ Ganja is also wanted in NDPS cases registered at Police Commissionerate Amritsar, Kapurthala, and Jalandhar (Rural).