A 29-year-old drug smuggler allegedly linked with drug lords in Pakistan was arrested with half a kilogramme heroin recovered from his possession here today, police said.
Balraj Singh, who has supplied at least 60 kg contraband worth several crores of rupees in the international market from Pakistan, was arrested from Kurali area where he had come to deliver a consignment to a customer, police said.
The police have not ruled out the terror links and arms smuggling.
"We have put him under sustained interrogation and would unearth all his wrongdoings," SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said.
Balraj, who is from Naushahra Dhalla in Tarn Taran, was living with fake identity at Ropar with Sukhwinder Kaur, with whom he shared a live-in relationship.
Calling the arrested smuggler a hardcore criminal, the SSP said that Balraj was a proclaimed offender in at least two drug cases, registered at Jalalbad and Thana Sarai Amanat Khan.
He had also been lodged in Amritsar and Kapurthala jails in connection with drug cases. Apart from that he has been facing several other criminal cases, said Bhullar.
Balraj, a XII class pass out, came into drug smuggling in 2011 when he along with his accomplice Chamkaur Singh, a resident of village Bhoose in Tarn Taran, smuggled five kg heroin from Pakistan.
"Then they smuggled 12 kg heroin from Pakistan but were nabbed that time by Amritsar Police and lodged in Amritsar Jail," said Bhullar.
Balraj had come out from jail on bail in 2015 and restarted his activities.
"We are also investigating that whether or not he has connections with terrorists or his involvement in arms smuggling," said the SSP.
After registering a case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of NDPS Act at Kurali Police Station, the police produced Balraj before Ropar court, which has sent him on a three-day remand under the police custody.
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