A BSF constable and two others were arrested in a cross-border drugs and weapons smuggling racket, the Punjab police said on Sunday.

A 30-bore, made-in-China pistol, five live cartridges and Rs 24.5 lakh were recovered from the accused, identified as Border Security Force (BSF) constable Rajendra Prashad and two locals, Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh, said Punjab director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta.

The BSF constable is a resident of Rajasthan and was posted at a border outpost at Chhina village in Taran Tarn district.

DGP Gupta said the police are working on getting the kingpin of the racket, Satnam Singh alias Satta, extradited from Muscat, Oman, where he had fled after being declared a proclaimed offender in two smuggling cases. Satta had used a fake passport and Aadhar card issued in the name of Gurmeet Singh to escape, said the DGP.

Satta’s ill-gotten property, which he had purchased in the name of his relative Maninder Kaur, at Sandhu Colony Amritsar, has been frozen, he added.

HOW THEY WERE CAUGHT

As per information, the Jalandhar police had apprehended Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh on July 26 following a tip-off. They were coming in a Verna car from Delhi at the time and police had recovered 25-gm heroin from their possession. During questioning, the duo had revealed that they worked with a

cross-border smuggler Satnam Singh, who was closely linked with Pak-based heroin and weapons smugglers. They also disclosed that BSF constable Rajendra Prashad was part of the smuggling racket.

On July 28, the police nabbed BSF constable Prashad from his residence in Rawala Mandi in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. During questioning, the BSF constable revealed that he had been roped into the drug smuggling racket by Satnam Singh, who promised him money for ignoring the smuggling of arms and narcotics consignment through his border post. He then allowed the gang to bring in a consignment of 17 kg heroin and two foreign-made pistols in May. This time again, Satnam Singh, in connivance with Rajendra Prashad, Surmail Singh and Gurjant Singh, was to bring in another consignment of heroin and arms from his Pakistan-based handlers. Satnam had allegedly given Rs 5 lakh and a mobile phone to Prashad in advance for receiving this composite consignment.

Prashad is the second BSF constable to be arrested by the Punjab police in a cross-border smuggling racket in the past few days. The police had recently arrested another BSF constable, Sumit Kumar, posted at Sambha in Jammu and Kashmir, in another cross-border smuggling case.

With PTI inputs