Jalandhar: Woman wanted by NCB held

Rano Devi, an infamous drug peddler and proclaimed offender wanted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), has been arrested in a joint operation by Jalandhar Rural Police and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF). Rano, hailing from Shankar village of Nakodar, was arrested along with her daughter Baljinder Kaur and driver Sukhdev, alias Dani.

Rano faces 17 criminal cases in various Jalandhar police stations and was on the police radar for her involvement with several drug syndicates. She was reportedly a conduit for drug lord Akshay Chhabra, who also faces NCB charges and was recently detained for one year in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail.

The joint police teams recovered Rs 1.12 lakh in suspected drug money, gold ornaments, and an i20 car used in drug trafficking operations. Rano’s daughter, Baljinder Kaur, married in Langroya village of Nawanshahr, also faces non-bailable warrants and proclamation orders from the Special Court in Ludhiana. The court had declared Rano and two others — Surinder Kumar Kalra and Neelam Kalra — as proclaimed offenders.

Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said the operation was conducted under the supervision of SP (Investigation) Jasrup Kaur Bath, led by DSP Kulwinder Singh Virk, and supported by sub-inspector Baljinder Singh, SHO of Police Station Sadar Nakodar, and ANTF officers.

Rano Devi, a key figure in heroin trafficking, was wanted in an NCB Chandigarh case.