Three Army men in the dock for trying to sell heroin
After the ceasefire between India and Pakistan when patriotism and respect for defence personnel is at its peak, exploiting the uniform for ulterior motives to smuggle drugs concealed clandestinely during a raid by the military in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir border cost three soldiers of the Indian Army dear as besides the stigma, they could well lose their jobs if charges levelled against them are proved in a court of law.
Identified as Bikramjit Singh of Bhanohar in Ludhiana district of Punjab, Baljinder Singh Balli of Chand Bhan village in Jaito area and Jaswinder Singh of Jhinger Kalan in Hoshiarpur district, the suspects were arrested by cops supervised by DSP (D) Inderjit Singh Boparai and DSP, Dakha, Varinder Singh Khosa from different places after registration of an FIR against Bikramjit Singh on May 13. Gurdev Singh, a civilian, was also arrested during this period while three more suspects are yet to be nabbed.
Though the police are yet to complete the interrogation of the trio in remand, preliminary investigations have confirmed that these Army personnel had allegedly exploited their uniform and officials position for transporting a consignment of heroin that should have been deposited with authorities conducting raids for checking cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs in Uri sector some time ago.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Ankur Gupta informed that the policemen supervised by DSP (D) Inderjit Singh Boparai and DSP, Dakha, Varinder Khosa had nabbed Bikramjit Singh, Baljinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh from different places and at different time along with their civilian accomplice.
“Though we have already informed authorities in the Army about the arrest and involvement of three Army personnel in the drug peddling case, a detailed report about joint and individual role of the trio will be sent after their police remand is over,” said SSP Gupta acknowledging that the accused had exploited their uniform for transporting the contraband from their units to the local area.
Remotely related to each other, the three Army personnel had conspired to sell a packet containing about 450 grams of heroin that was spotted and concealed by Jaswinder Singh during a raid conducted in Uri sector.
Jaswinder Singh then asked Baljinder Singh Balli to explore the chances of earning over Rs 25 lakh by selling the contraband in Punjab. Balli further discussed the matter with Bikramjit Singh of Bhanohar village as he used to boast of his links with notorious drug peddlers of Malwa. He struck a deal with a local drug peddler and agreed to supply 450 grams of heroin on credit.
To ensure delivery of the contraband safely in Punjab, Jaswinder, Balli and Bikramjit decided to proceed on leave simultaneously and travel home with the packet. Though the packet was delivered to the local peddlers a long time ago, he did not make the payment to Bikramjit Singh who had to borrow Rs 5 lakh from one of his relatives for making part payment to Jaswinder Singh, the original owner of the contraband.
It was after the local peddler tricked Bikramjit by returning about half of the consignment on the pretext that it was of poor quality and retaining proceeds of about 200 grams with him that Bikramjit was nabbed by the Jodhan police on the basis of secret information on May 13.
Intensive interrogation of the accused under the supervision of SSP Dr Ankur Gupta resulted in the busting of alleged nexus between the three Army men from Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Jaito area and their civilian accomplice, three of whom are yet to be arrested.
Ludhiana