AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday apprehended a wanted accused in a major cross-border heroin and arms smuggling case registered in Punjab, officials said on Thursday.The accused, Rehmat Ali Sheikh, a resident of Bhalla Colony in Amritsar, was arrested from an embroidery factory in the Rakhial area of Ahmedabad. He was wanted in an offence lodged at Rajasansi police station in connection with cross-border smuggling of heroin, hand grenades and pistols.According to ATS officials, the arrest followed specific intelligence received by an ATS officer who learnt that the absconding accused fled Punjab after the case was registered, travelled to Nepal, moved through Bihar and was currently hiding in Ahmedabad. The input was shared with senior officers, following which a team was constituted.The ATS team conducted surveillance in Rakhial and traced the suspect to a local embroidery unit where he reportedly took up work to avoid detection. He was detained and brought to the ATS office in Ahmedabad for interrogation.During preliminary questioning, the accused allegedly admitted to being part of a larger narcotics and arms trafficking network operating along the Punjab-Pakistan border. Officials said that in Jan this year, consignments of heroin, hand grenades and pistols were smuggled across the border and delivered to handlers in Punjab.In the Punjab case, two other accused were earlier arrested and 42.9kg of heroin, four hand grenades, one Star-mark pistol and 46 live cartridges were seized. The FIR was registered on Jan 29 under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act and the Explosive Substances Act.After the seizure, Rehmat Ali allegedly went underground. Gujarat ATS informed Punjab police about the arrest, and legal formalities are underway to transfer custody of the accused for further investigation.
