Drug inspector arrested for colluding with smugglers

Punjab Police’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has arrested drug inspector Shishan Mittal for his involvement in facilitating drug smuggling operations connected to illegal pharmaceuticals, medical stores and laundering the drug money in the ‘benami’ accounts in the name of his relatives, said Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, here on Friday.

The Punjab Police have also frozen 24 bank accounts — with total amount reaching Rs 7.09 crore— linked to the accused drug inspector, besides seizing a huge amount of cash and foreign currency during a series of coordinated raids conducted at different locations in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. In addition to this, two bank lockers were also seized.

The DGP said that following a combination of advanced technical surveillance and human intelligence, police teams from ANTF, headed by Special DGP Kuldeep Singh, have apprehended Drug Inspector Shishan Mittal from Aerocity in SAS Nagar.

He said the preliminary investigation suggested the accused drug inspector had been regularly in touch with drug smugglers lodged inside jail and facilitated their drug network outside. The probe also found that the accused drug inspector was travelling to foreign countries frequently without taking permission from the government or availing ex-India leave, he added.

This successful operation by the ANTF reflects its strategic approach in tackling complex criminal networks, said the DGP, while adding that further investigation is ongoing in this case.

Special DGP Kuldeep Singh said that the ANTF has recovered Rs 1.49 crore in cash, 260 gm of gold and 515 Dirhams. Furthermore, substantial assets acquired through the proceeds of illegal activities were identified, including flats valued at Rs 2 crore in Zirakpur, Rs 40 lakh plot in Dabwali among many others, he added.

A case was registered last month under Section 29 and 59 of the NDPS Act and Section 111 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). After the police acted against Shishan Mittal on August 8, he was transferred from Fazilka to Muktsar. He, however, did not join here.

A senior officer in the Food and Drugs Administration told The Tribune that Shishan was on leave till August 31 on medical grounds and wanted to extend it, but his application was rejected. He was presently on unauthorised leave.