Amritpal Singh’s brother held with 4-gm crystal meth

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, July 12

The Jalandhar Rural police arrested Khadoor Sahib MP and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh’s brother Harpreet Singh, alias Happy, from Phillaur and allegedly seized 4 gm of Ice (methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth) from his possession late on Thursday.

Two more persons – Harpreet’s aide Lovepreet Singh of Cheema Bath in Beas, Amritsar, and alleged drug supplier Sandeep Arora of Haibowal, Ludhiana — were also arrested. An FIR under Sections 22, 27 and 29 of the NDPS Act was registered against the three at the Phillaur police station on Friday.

Interestingly, the eradication of drugs from Punjab was among the key poll planks of Amritpal.

Harpreet, a resident of Jallupur Khera in Khilchian, Amritsar, and Lovepreet were arrested while they were allegedly consuming drugs in a white Hyundai Creta (PB02-CX-3808) parked along the Phillaur-Amritsar highway. Addressing a press conference, Jalandhar SSP Ankur Gupta said, “The police got suspicious on spotting the SUV with black window panes parked along the highway. During a search, 4 gm of Ice was seized from the SUV occupants, identified as Harpreet and Lovepreet. They also had two lighters, a digital weighing scale and three mobile phones. Upon questioning, they revealed they had bought the drugs for personal consumption from Ludhiana’s Sandeep Arora by paying an advance amount of Rs 10,000 via Paytm.” Other items seized from them included a half-burnt Rs 20 note and a silver paper.

A police official said, “A medical examination confirmed the presence of three drugs — methamphetamine, morphine/heroine and another drug — in Harpreet’s body and four in Lovepreet’s. Both had nasal congestion and their pupils dilated.”

The police said Harpreet revealed he was baptised at Damdami Taksal in Amritsar in his childhood, but he stopped abiding by Sikh tenets after his visit to Dubai in 2015. He also admitted that he had been taking drugs for the past three years. A Phillaur court on Friday sent the three to judicial custody for 14 days.

Meanwhile, Amritpal’s uncle Sukhchain Singh said, “We always had an anti-drug stance. They are implicating us in a false case. We don’t trust the dope test.”