New Delhi: Punjab Police’s routine check of a Scorpio car bearing a VIP number plate Wednesday led to the alleged recovery of 4.3 kg of heroin, amounting to around Rs 10 crore, and the arrest of the three occupants of the vehicle, one of whom is a youth wing member of the state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The recovery was made in Amritsar district as part of the ongoing statewide campaign against drugs, and comes a week after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested a sarpanch believed to be backed by the AAP in a drugs recovery case.
Wednesday’s bust drew sharp reactions from opposition leaders against the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
Sources in the Punjab Police told ThePrint that the patrolling team had searched the Scorpio car during a routine check and identified its occupants as Lovepreet Singh, Simarpreet Singh and Balwant Singh. Lovepreet was linked to the ruling party as opposition leaders shared his pictures with senior AAP leaders on social media.
From the SUV, sources said, the police team recovered heroin along with a 0.32 bore pistol and several rounds of live ammunition. The three men were arrested on the spot and produced before a local court, which sent them to police custody for two days.
Sources said the identities of the accused and their affiliations were not known at the time of recovery and arrest.
Confirming Lovepreet’s association with the AAP, in power in Punjab since 2022, party spokesperson Baltej Pannu hailed his arrest as a vindication of the state government’s “zero-tolerance policy against anyone, irrespective of rank and clout, involved in the drug trade”. He said Lovepreet was a member of the party’s youth wing in Amritsar region.
“None of our ministers, senior leaders or even local leaders have called up the police to let him walk free. Isn’t this a departure from the earlier governments where senior leaders were giving a free hand to drug mafia?” Pannu told ThePrint.
Lovepreet’s association with the ruling party came to the fore Thursday when opposition leaders such as Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Bikram Singh Majithia and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa posted his pictures with CM Mann and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia.
While Khaira took to X and claimed that Lovepreet is the sarpanch of Kot Hirde Ram village, police sources said his family member was the sarpanch of the village.
General secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Bikram Singh Majithia, alleged that, in addition to being the village sarpanch, Lovepreet was also personal assistant to local AAP leader Talbir Singh Gill.
A former close aide of Majithia, Gill has been announced as AAP candidate from Majithia constituency for the Punjab assembly elections due next year.
ThePrint reached out to Gill as well as his office via calls but did not get a response. A query has been sent over WhatsApp and a reply is awaited.
Majithia also urged the NCB to carry out a thorough probe into the drug network and links of the arrested persons in the region.
Alleging that the latest episode exposed the state’s campaign against drugs, termed ‘Yudh Nasheya Virudh’, Majithia raised questions about Lovepreet’s nexus and the extent of his reach within the party leadership.
Leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa also said the AAP’s anti-drug stand stood exposed.
A week ago, the NCB had arrested one Paramjit Singh alias Pamma, who was heading the village defence committees as sarpanch of Tarn Taran’s Kalsian village. He was arrested for harbouring his cousin, a wanted accused in a case involving the recovery of 18 kg of banned substances, including heroin, from the border area.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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