Increasing cases of drug smuggling a challenger for Haryana government

Sirsa: After recovery of  heroine of value worth rupees one crore and cash amount Rs 5 lakh 69 thousand from a drug smuggler by Ambala police on Friday from a youth travelling in a car having registration no. DL 14C – R180, a  resident of Jaggi Colony Ambala City, who was arrested near Kali Paltan bridge on Delhi-Amritsar National highway, Ambala Cantt on a clue by the CIA staff police team led by Inspector Harjinder Singh. A case was registered under Section 21,27A-61-1985 of NDPS Act at Parao Police Station Ambala Cantt against the youth. Now within 24 hours, Sirsa Police in Haryana has achieved great success in its campaign against drug smugglers. CIA Ellenabad Police has recovered 4 kg 256 grams of heroin from two youths of age around 22,travelling in a private car during patrolling. The market value of the recovered heroin has been estimated to be Rs 25 crore smuggled from Punjab, which was to be consumed in the areas around Sirsa, known as a hub of drugs in Haryana state. Police on Thursday arrested both youths travelling in the car with heroin and also recovered Pakistani currency from the youths during the arrest, suspecting that drug was smuggled from Pakistan. A case has been registered against the arrested youths in Civil Lines police station Sirsa under NDPS Act and other sections, both youths have been taken on police remand for questioning.

Sirsa Superintendent of Police Vikrant Bhushan said, this is the biggest action taken by Sirsa Police till date and no person involved in it will be spared, the police is investigating the matter. He said that a police team led by Sub-Inspector Jagdish Chandra of CIA Ellenabad Police during patrolling stopped the vehicle when two youths travelling in a KIA car were trying to escape from the spot after seeing the police party. The Superintendent of Police said that on the basis of suspicion, the police party caught both youths and when they were searched in the presence of a magistrate, 4 kg 256 grams of heroin worth about Rs 25 crore was recovered from their possession. He said that an FIR has been registered against the arrested youths under the NDPS Act in the Civil Lines police station and investigation has been started.   

Superintendent of Police Vikrant Bhushan said that the arrested youths told during preliminary interrogation that they had bought this heroin from Punjab and it was to be supplied in Sirsa and its surrounding areas. He said that during the investigation, along with the heroin, some Pakistani currency has also been recovered from the arrested accused. Therefore, the possibility of links with Pakistan cannot be ruled out and the matter along with the previous criminal record of both arrested accused is being investigated seriously during the remand period. He said the names and addresses of other people involved in this network of drug smuggling will be found out and action will be taken against them also.

 
Information reveals, 204 kg heroin seized in Haryana in the past 6 years, Sirsa has emerged as the epicentre of heroin smuggling in Haryana, seizing 40.55 kg, the highest among all districts. Sirsa district, which shares proximity with Punjab and Rajasthan has long been a transit hub for drug traffickers. Haryana has seized a staggering 204 kg heroin between January 2019 and December 2024, pointing towards the rising scale of drug trafficking in the state which is emerging as a key transit and consumption hub for narcotics according to the data presented in the assembly on Thursday. Heroin, one of the most dangerous and highly addictive drugs have been recovered from multiple districts in the state. The data reveals that heroin smuggling is not confined to border regions but is widespread across both rural and urban areas of Haryana and its consumption is fast increasing. Close behind, Fatehabad district also saw seizures of 21.85 kg heroin, whereas Jind recorded the third -highest heroin seizure with 17.62 kg confiscated.

Beyond the top three, multiple districts reported substantial heroin confiscations, Hisar accounted for 14.15 kg, while Ambala – a critical transit point near the Punjab border had 14.18 kg seized and Yamunanagar registered 14.64 kg of heroin making it another hotspot. Gurugram, Haryana’s corporate hub recorded 6.92 kg of heroin seizures and Faridabad saw 4.65 kg heroin seized. Panipat and Karnal, located along NH-44, a known smuggling route also reported 5.63 kg and 4.69 kg, respectively. Other districts in Haryana state with heroin seizures include Rohtak 15.53 kg, Kurukshetra 8 kg, Nuh 6.25kg, Panchkula 4.31kg, Sonipat 3.15 kg, Palwal 3.74 kg and Jhajjar 1.88 kg, further illustrating that heroin trafficking is not limited to a few regions but is a widespread issue affecting the entire state. The state government has tabled the data in response to few MLAs of the affected areas had sought the details of total number of persons against whom the cases of drug trade have been registered from January, 2019 to December, 2024 by the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB) along with the number of the persons arrested and the number of cases pending in court and the number of cases in which accused have been convicted. According to available data, a total of 1540 cases have been registered by the HSNCB under the NDPS Act in which a total of 2625 persons have been arrested in the above said 1540 cases, out of these 1,406 cases are currently pending trial in the courts and 57 cases have resulted in conviction. Apart from heroin, Haryana’s anti-narcotics operations have led to the confiscation of massive quantities of other drugs between 2019 and 2024, which seized 1,527kg charas, 53,186 kg ganja, 1,599kg opium,  572 gram cocaine and 400 gram MDMA in addition to recovery of 49.37 lakh drug tablets, 11 lakh capsules, 61,177 injections and synthetic substances.

According to the chief minister’s report submitted in assembly session, 204.85 kg of heroin, 1,527.88 kg of charas, 53,186.88 kg of ganja, 1,599 kg of opium, 79,652.31 kg of poppy straw, 0.5 kg of cocaine and 0.39 kg of MDMA were seized across the state in five years, between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2024. The highest heroin seizure was of 40.55 kg, in Sirsa, followed by 21.85 kg in Fatehabad, 17.62 kg in Jind, 15.53 kg in Rohtak, 14.64 kg in Yamunanagar, 14.18 kg in Ambala and 14.15 kg in Hisar. Yamunanagar topped the charas seizure list with 268.33 kg, followed by Sonipat 135.79 kg, Charkhi Dadri 128.76 kg, Jind 120.61 kg and Panipat 115.79 kg, besides  seizure of 69,464 bottles containing intoxicants, 10.84 lakh intoxicant capsules, 61,777 injections and over 49.37 lakh intoxicant tablets.