5 Himachal youths held with ICE, cocaine

JALANDHAR: Five youths, including an engineering student, from Himachal Pradesh were arrested by Jalandhar (rural) police with 1.1 kg of synthetic drug ICE and 900 gm cocaine. According to police, the consignment was meant to be supplied in Delhi. Police officials said it was the first case in which Punjab Police had arrested drug peddlers from Hoshiarpur with synthetic drugs in such huge quantity.
Superintendent of police (detective) H P S Khakh told that a car bearing Himachal registration number was intercepted at a police 'naka' near Sarmastpur village on the basis of a tip-off. When the vehicle was searched the narcotics were recovered.
The arrested accused included gang leader Manoj Kumar, 30, Dalip Sharma, 22, Anil Thakur, 22, a student of B Tech (civil) in MTI College, Hamirpur, and Rajesh Kumar, 24, working at a mobile repair shop near Dalhousie. All four hail from Chamba district while the fifth accused Nageen Singh, 30, was working at a chemist shop in Dalhousie.
SP Khakh said kingpin Manoj was earlier booked by Goraya police in an NDPS Act case when he was living at Ladhowali Road in Jalandhar along with his brother-in-law Sham Lal, who is in Patiala jail in a case of drug peddling.
After coming out of jail, Manoj formed a gang of youths in their early 20s and started targeting students. He was targeting students of Himachal and the gang contemplated luring students in Delhi into drugs. "Engineering student Anil was supplying drugs to the students," SP said, adding that further questioning of the accused would bring out more details about their network and the target areas.