3 drug traffickers held near Nepal border in Uttarakhand, year's largest smack consignment seized

Champawat, Dec 15 (PTI) A joint team of police and Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested three men allegedly linked to an interstate drug syndicate and recovered about 800 grams of contraband near the Nepal border in Uttarakhand's ​​Champawat district, an official said on Monday.

With the recovery of narcotics worth more than Rs 2 crore, this is the largest consignment of smack seized this year, Champawat Superintendent of Police Ajay Ganpati said.

During a check at the Nepal border on the night of December 14, a team led by SOG in-charge Kamlesh Bhatt searched three people coming on a motorcycle without a number plate near Stang Farm, who were allegedly trying to smuggle the contraband to Nepal, he said.

The police arrested the trio and recovered 799 grams of smack from their possession, the SP said.

A case was registered against them at the Banbasa police station under Section 8/21 of the NDPS Act.

The accused, Suraj Singh, 19, Karnail Singh, 32, and Gurmeet Singh, 42, are all residents of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, the SP said.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that the kingpin Satnam Singh, is a resident of Lakhimpur Kheri. He is also active in Mumbai and Goa, where several cases are registered against him. He has conducted transactions worth lakhs of rupees through Suraj Singh's account, the SP said.

The accused were produced in a court here on Monday, which sent them to jail on 14-day judicial custody, he said.

This year, 87 cases of drug trafficking were registered in Champawat, in which narcotics worth Rs 17 crore have been recovered, and 140 accused have been sent to jail. PTI DPT VN SHS SHS