Two held for opium smuggling in Delhi

Two persons were arrested from north Delhi's Burari area for allegedly smuggling opium using e-passes procured for ferrying migrants home during the ongoing lockdown, police said on Saturday.

The accused have been identified as Shan Masih (38) and Chetan Patial (28), both residents of Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, they said.

"They were arrested on Friday from near Burari Chowk at Outer Ring Road. A total of 12 kgs of opium was recovered from their possession. They had procured the opium from Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

The accused work for a Punjab-based transporter, Gurmeet Singh, and got e-passes for their car from Hoshiarpur, he said.

According to a senior police officer, Masih and Patial helped migrants from Punjab and Delhi reach their native places in Jharkhand and picked up the drugs from their associate on their way back. They were supposed to deliver the consignment in Kashmere Gate area.

This was the third trip of the accused to Delhi and Punjab from Jharkhand using the e-passes procured for transporting migrant labourers during the lockdown, the police said.