In a joint operation with the narcotics control bureau(NCB), the Punjab police have detained a notorious trans-border drug smuggler identified as Balwinder Singh alias Billa Sarpanch from Gurdaspur City area.

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday that accused Billa, who is a native of village Havelian in Tarn Taran district and presently on bail, has been facing over 15 criminal cases, majority of them related with the narcotics, drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) Act and Arms Act.

Accused Billa has been detained under section 3 (1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS Act (PIT-NDPS) and sent to Dibrugarh in Assam. He will be lodged in Dibrugarh central jail during the detention period, said DGP Yadav. Under PIT-NDPS stringent provisions one can detain a drug smuggler without any bail for a period of one year. This is the same jail where Khadoor Sahib MP and pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh Sandhu has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) since April 23 last year along with his other accomplices.

The state police chief added that the detenue drug smuggler Billa is involved in trans-border drug smuggling networks with Pakistani smugglers. SSP Amritsar Rural Charanjit Singh said that based on reliable inputs about Billa’s presence in the area of Gurdaspur City, police teams from Amritsar Rural led-by DSP Gurinder Singh Nagra under the supervision of SP investigation Harinder Singh Gill along with teams from the NCB detained the accused drug smuggler. He added that the investigations are on to trace Billa’s other accomplices and identify the Pakistan-based drug smugglers.