LUDHIANA: Ludhiana police Special Task Force arrested three drug peddlers, including a woman, with a kilogram of heroin and Rs 32,000 drug money on GT Road on Friday.The three-member gang kingpin, Ranjeet Singh, 28, his cousin Amandeep Kaur, 27, and friend Harchand Lal, 40, are residents of Talwandi Kalan village.Ludhiana STF in-charge sub-inspector Harbans Singh said, “A car was stopped at a checkpoint near Fatehpur Gujjran village on GT Road. During checking, one-kg heroin was found hidden beneath the car seats. Besides, Rs 32,000 were recovered from the trio’s possession. The heroin is worth Rs 5 crore in the international market.”During interrogation, the accused told police that they had obtained Rs 32,000 after selling drugs and that they procured the contraband from smugglers in Delhi and Ganna village of Phillaur to sell it to their customers in Ludhiana.“Ranjeet started peddling drugs at the age of 17. His family that lived from hand-to-mouth now owns several properties. He was first booked in a drugs case in 2007,” the sub-inspector added.Later, Harchand and Amandeep joined Ranjeet to make a quick buck.“Harchand started peddling drugs around four years ago. He is facing trials in two illegal mining cases, too. Amandeep, a seamstress, is married to a labourer, whose earnings are meagre. A couple of months ago, Amandeep came across Harchand and joined him in the illegal trade,” said the sub-inspector.3 notorious villages of distTalwandi Kalan, Chaunta and Rajapur are three villages of Ludhiana district notorious for peddling drugs. “A large part of the population of these villages is into the trade. Even as these abound with hoodlums, police have failed to arrest the crime rate. For, peddlers come to know of every police raid and escape before cops reach them. A few months ago, residents had approached Special Task Force IG Pramod Ban against these villages. On their complaint, Ban had directed the police to lay special focus on these areas,” said a cop.

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