Punjab Police have busted two alleged cross-border smuggling operations in Mohali and Amritsar, arresting 11 people and seizing heroin, opium, methamphetamine, firearms, a drone and a GPS tracker. The two operations were announced on Tuesday, 10 November.

The cases cover the same border belt in Punjab, where police say consignments were dropped by drones across the international border and then supplied in the region. Police say the accused were allegedly in contact with foreign-based handlers, a claim that has not been established in court.

Mohali: four arrested in Kharar

Mohali Police arrested four men on 7 November in the Kharar area, all residents of Ferozepur district. They have been identified as Manpreet Singh, 23, Sunil Singh alias Sunny, 26, Gurpreet Singh alias Guri, 24, and Sukhchain Singh alias Sukha, 23.

Police say the four were allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based handlers and received heroin consignments dropped by drones across the international border, then supplied them in Mohali, Chandigarh and other parts of the Tricity.

Recovered from them were five firearms, one .30-bore Zigana pistol, two .32-bore pistols and two .315-bore weapons, along with 100 grams of heroin, Rs 1 lakh in suspected drug proceeds and a Hyundai Creta car.

FIR No. 388 was registered at Sadar Kharar police station on 7 November under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act. Mohali SSP Varun Sharma briefed the press on Tuesday, 10 November. Police said no previous criminal cases had been registered against any of the four.

Amritsar: seven arrested, RPG launcher seized

Amritsar Rural Police, working with a central agency, arrested seven people including juveniles and recovered a NATO-22 configuration RPG launcher, two 9mm Glock pistols, 106 live cartridges, 7.904 kg of heroin, 5.152 kg of opium and 2.344 kg of methamphetamine (ICE), a total of about 15.4 kg of drugs, plus a drone, a GPS tracker and five mobile phones.

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav announced the bust on 10 November. Border Range IG Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said teams from Bhindi Saida police station, working with the BSF, busted an ICE module. Balkar Singh, 41, of Kotli Dusandhi, Sukhjit Singh, 19, of Ajnala, and two juveniles were arrested, with 2.3 kg of ICE recovered.

Balkar Singh's agricultural land touches the international border fence, and he allegedly arranged the cross-border drone drop. Separate FIRs have been registered at Gharinda, Lopoke and Bhindi Saida police stations.

These are two separate operations in the same border belt, and every cross-border link in both cases remains an allegation by police, not a finding established in court.