His relocation was required due to links with operatives in Canada, US, Pak.
Digital Desk: on Sunday evening the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), moved gangster Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, an important accused for the 2022 murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, from Bathinda Jail in Punjab to Assam.
From there, he was sent to Central Jail at Silchar in Assam, where he was booked under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. As per NCB, "Bhagwanpuria had connections with international operatives in Canada, USA, and Pakistan," and it was, therefore, necessary to shift him out of the Punjab jurisdiction to break the ecosystem that supports further criminal activity.
He is involved in 128 cases, including high-profile murder cases, cases related to extortion, Arms Act and a dozen complaints filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since 2012, according to the central agency.
According to the agency, his network remained busy in drug and arms smuggling and operated even from high-security prisons."Several cases demonstrate how, from within high-security jails in Punjab, his criminal network facilitates the smuggling of heroin, opium, psychotropic substances, and illegal arms."
The PIT-NDPS Act 1988 provides for the "detention of persons concerned in any manner with illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for one or two year(s) with a view to preventing them from engaging in such harmful and prejudicial activities."
Over the last six months, criminals like Balwinder Singh alias Billa Havellian, Akshay Chhabra, and Jaspal Singh alias Goldy have been transferred from western Punjab jails to the central jail in Dibrugarh, Assam, for similar illegal activities while incarcerated.
These actions were undertaken based on detailed intelligence inputs and sustained investigations that showed the involvement of some high-profile traffickers in the orchestration of drug trafficking networks from behind bars, as stated by the NCB.
As per the NCB, preventive detention is to disrupt operational command structures, sever jail-based criminal networks and insulate prison environments from any further exploitation by organised crime syndicates.
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