Two held for drug smuggling in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Oct 30 (PTI) A joint team of Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has arrested two men for their alleged involvement in smuggling narcotics from across the border, an officer said on Thursday.

Inspector General (ATS) Vikas Kumar said one of the accused, carrying a Rs 25,000 reward on information leading to his arrest, ran a network to smuggle heroin from Pakistan to Punjab and Delhi.

The accused, whose identity has been kept confidential, has been allegedly involved in criminal activities since he was a juvenile, following in his father's footsteps in the drug trade.

The officer said that after his father was imprisoned, the accused expanded the illicit operation to border areas in Punjab, Jaisalmer, and Bikaner, evading police for years by misleading them into busting Pakistani consignments while protecting his own.

Kumar said the breakthrough came when the ATS tracked a suspicious private social media account traced to Jhunjhunu and Barmer districts.

Intelligence inputs helped narrow down the suspect's location to Neemrana Industrial Area in Alwar district, where he was nabbed, the officer said.

In a separate operation, Jogaram, carrying a cash reward of Rs 20,000, was arrested from Barmer on Wednesday evening for allegedly supplying drugs for the past eight years. PTI SDA ARB VN VN