The Special Task Force (STF) of Punjab Police against drugs recovered about 10 lakh tramadol tablets from Bathinda in Bathinda District on July 16, reports The Tribune. The opioid-based tablets are a schedule H drug under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and used as a painkiller. According to information, a Ludhiana-based manufacturer described as a serial defaulter in category of illegal manufacturing of the tablets has been booked after the recovery of the tablets. STF Punjab head Gurpreet Deo said that the operation was carried out by the Bathinda Police and the gang had links in Zirakpur, Ludhiana and Delhi. The kingpin, Pradeep Goyal, had supplied about 70 lakh tablets in the past few months, Police said.
Meanwhile, the intelligence sources revealed that Pakistan is using pro-Khalistan Sikh terrorists to smuggle drugs into India via carpet exports to the west and south-east Asia for fueling militancy in Punjab, reports Business Standard on July 14. Sources said that Paramjit Singh Panjwar, ‘chief’ of the terror outfit Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), is based in Lahore since 1994, whereas his wife and two sons live in Frankfurt in Germany. The nexus has been exposed after massive seizures of drugs shipped from Pakistan by the Coast Guards of the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India in recent months. Sources said that Pakistan is using neighbouring countries, particularly Sri Lanka and the Maldives to pump drugs into India.