In a major crackdown on the drug nexus amidst the ongoing anti-drugs campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Commissionerate Police Amritsar has busted two separate smuggling networks with the arrest of three accused persons and recovered 1.01 kg heroin, Rs 45.19 lakh drug money and a cash counting machine, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.

Those arrested have been identified as Rahul Singh alias Kalu (20) of Thathi Sohal in Tarn Taran, Gurmukh Singh (21) of village Sudhar Rajputan in Amritsar, and Varinderpal Singh (32) of village Akalgarh Dhaphian in Amritsar.

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DGP Gaurav Yadav said two separate first information reports (FIRs) under the NDPS Act have been registered at Police Stations — Gate Hakima and PS Verka. Further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages to unearth the whole smuggling module, he added.

Sharing operation details of the first operation, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that police teams from CIA-2 have arrested accused Rahul alias Kalu and recovered 510 grams of heroin and Rs 30.18 lakhs of drug money along with a counting machine from his rented house at Anand Vihar in Amritsar.

He said that a preliminary investigation has indicated that the accused, Rahul, was in contact with a foreign-based drug smuggler, Tony German, and was supplying heroin locally after receiving the consignments from across the border. In this regard, a case FIR No. 117 dated 16-05-2025 has been registered under sections 21-C and 25 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Gate Hakima in Amritsar.

In another operation, the CP said that police teams from Police Station Verka arrested Gurmukh Singh and Varinder Pal Singh and recovered 500 grams of heroin, Rs 15.19 lakh drug money, and a camera-fitted toy drone from their possession. The accused had made a concealed bed-box (Secret locker) at a house located in village Akalgarh from where drug money has been recovered, he said, adding that the accused persons were using the toy drone for practising.

Further investigation is on, and more arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days. A case FIR No. 40 dated 14-5-2025 has been registered under Sections 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Verka in Amritsar.