An interstate drug and arms smuggler, wanted by the Punjab Police for his links to a cross-border drone smuggling network, has been arrested from the Bazpur area of Udham Singh Nagar district, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrest was made during a joint early morning operation conducted by the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF), the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of the Punjab Police, and the local Udham Singh Nagar Police.
The accused, identified as Ishanpreet Singh, a resident of Surta Singh Colony in Amritsar City, had been on the run since escaping a police raid in May. He faces multiple charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act in Punjab.
According to senior police officials, a joint team of the ANTF and the Border Security Force (BSF) had previously raided Singh’s residence in Amritsar on May 23. Singh, however, managed to evade arrest at the time by leaping from the roof of his house.
A search of his premises following the escape led to the recovery of 12 illegal pistols, 20 magazines, and nearly 900 grams of heroin. The seized weaponry included three Beretta pistols, three Zigana pistols, and six pistols of Chinese manufacture.
Initial investigations revealed that the consignment of contraband and weapons had been dropped across the Pakistan border via drones. Punjab Police and central security agencies had been tracking Singh ever since.
Acting on a tip-off that the accused was hiding in Udham Singh Nagar, the Uttarakhand STF set up a surveillance team. He was subsequently apprehended from the Keshavnagar locality of Bazpur.
Following his arrest and initial interrogation, Singh was handed over to the Punjab Police for further legal proceedings and an expanded investigation into the wider interstate smuggling network, the officials said.
