Batala cops tighten noose around heroin smugglers

Tightening the noose around drug smugglers, the Batala police have submitted proposal to a New Delhi-based competent authority to freeze 42 prime properties worth Rs 18 crore. This body is a Central government’s entity set up for the forfeiture of illegally acquired properties of persons convicted under the NDPS Act.

SSP Suhail Qasim Mir said freezing the properties was significant to curb narcotic-related crimes and dismantle the financial networks of organised crime syndicates which, in some cases, stretched to foreign nations.

Police sources said the properties targeted include both immovable assets such as land, buildings and structures and movable assets such as vehicles and bank accounts.

“Each and every one of the 42 cases has been subjected to meticulous investigation, intelligence gathering and evidence collection so as to establish a clear link with narcotics-related crimes,” said the SSP.

Pakistani state and non-state actors are known to push in drones carrying payloads of Afghanistan-made heroin into border villages falling in Batala and Gurdaspur police districts. Particularly vulnerable are the Kalanaur, Dorangla of Gurdaspur and Dera Baba Nanak police stations of Batala police district.

“By confiscating these assets, the Batala police are not only deterring offenders but also preventing the misuse of such wealth to fund further criminal activities,” said SSP Qasim Mir.