Punjab Police Busts Pak-Backed Narco-Terrorism Hawala Network; 11 Held, ₹5 Crore in Different Currencies Recovered
Police Teams Also Recover 372 Grams Gold, Impound Four Luxury Vehicles
Arrested Accused Harbhaj Alias Bheja Emerges as Mastermind, Was in Contact with Pakistani Drug Smuggler Shehbaz from Inside the Jail, Says DGP Gaurav Yadav
ANTF Teams Also Identified Properties Worth Hundreds of Crores, Process Initiated to Freeze Them: DGP Punjab
Punjab Police Arrests 3868 Drug Smugglers After Registration of 2177 FIRs in 24 Days; Recovers 135 kg Heroin, 82 kg Opium and ₹5.42 Crore Drug Money
Chandigarh, March 24, 2025
Striking a major blow to the narco-terrorism hawala networks amidst the ongoing anti-drugs campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of the Punjab Police with the support of Central Agencies has arrested 11 persons, including five drug smugglers, three drug hawala money couriers, and three hawala traders, and recovered drug money in different foreign currencies amounting to ₹5.09 crores, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
The arrested drug smugglers have been identified as Harjinder Singh alias Ajay (26) of Ram Talai in Amritsar, Harmanjit Singh alias Harry (27) of Guru Nanak Colony in Amritsar, Sagar (28) of Naraingarh in Chheharta of Amritsar, Lavdeep Singh (30) alias Lala of Husanpura Kalan in Batala, and Harbhaj Singh (30) alias Bheja of Kakkar in Amritsar. The drug hawala money couriers have been identified as Saurav alias Saurav Mahajan (24) of Joda Phatak in Amritsar, Tanush (28) of Ghah Mandi Chowk of Amritsar, and Harminder Singh (28) alias Harry of Damganj in Amritsar.
The arrested hawala traders have been identified as Ashok Kumar Sharma (60), an owner of Phagwara-based Sharma Forex Money Changer, and his accomplices Rajesh Kumar (50) of Mutiarpur Mohalla in Phagwara and Amit Bansal alias Sunil (47) of Sukhchain Nagar in Phagwara.
The development came following two months of meticulous investigations and sustained follow-up of backward and forward linkages in the arrest of two individuals, Harjinder Singh alias Ajay and Harmanjit Singh alias Harry, after recovering 263 grams heroin and ₹5.60 lakh drug money from their possession on January 21, 2025.
DGP Gaurav Yadav, while addressing a press conference, said during the investigations in this case, police teams from ANTF arrested three hawala money couriers, Saurav Mahajan, Tanush, and Harminder alias Harry, on the very next day, and recovered ₹47.50 lakhs drug money, besides impounding their Mahindra XUV 300 vehicle. Following the trail of investigations, on January 24, police teams successfully arrested two more drug smugglers identified as Sagar and Lavdeep Singh alias Lala, and ₹5 lakh drug money along with an Activa scooter and 160 grams heroin were recovered from them.
Further investigations led the police teams to expose the role of an inmate lodged in Central Jail Amritsar identified as Harbhaj Singh alias Bheja, who emerged as the mastermind of this racket and was found to be in contact with Pakistani drug smuggler Shehbaz from inside the jail. On January 26, the accused was brought on production warrant from Central Jail Amritsar and formally arrested in this case.
Notably, Pakistani smuggler Shehbaz, a resident of village Burewal in district Narowal, had illegally entered India, and an FIR under relevant sections was registered against him in February 2021. He was lodged in Central Jail, Amritsar before his deportation to Pakistan.
The DGP said that preliminary investigations have revealed that accused Harbhaj Singh and Harmanjit alias Harry were introduced to Pak-based smuggler Shehbaz when they