GLADA, police survey house of alleged heroin kingpin

Ludhiana: As part of the Punjab govt's Yudh Nashya Virudh campaign, officials of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada), accompanied by a heavy police force, conducted a survey of the property belonging to former sarpanch Gurdip Singh Rano, alleged kingpin of a multi-crore heroin smuggling network.Police said Rano has been facing 11 cases registered under various sections, including the NDPS Act. They added that in 2020, STF arrested him with approximately 31kg heroin, exposing his large-scale trafficking operations. Police said large quantities of drugs had been seized earlier in cases connected to him.According to an official statement, Glada officials and police personnel reached Rano's luxurious residence and carried out on-site measurements of the property, including the boundary walls. The team also took photographs. A report will be forwarded to authorities for further action.Glada junior engineer Aman Deep Singh said preliminary investigations show that no building plan or map had been approved by Glada for the mansion. He said the structure was constructed illegally without permission. He added that the family had earlier filed a writ petition to prevent demolition, but the plea was disposed of on May 9, paving the way for Glada to proceed as per rules.Senior police officers present during the survey included DSP (headquarters) Khanna Pritpal Singh Sandhu, DSP Payal Jaswinder Singh Khaira, SHO Payal Tarwinder Kumar Bedi, SHO Malaud Charanjit Singh, SHO Doraha Akash Dutt and a large number of police personnel. Police were deployed at all corners of the property to maintain law and order.Police officials reiterated that Rano has around 11 cases registered against him under the NDPS Act and other serious offences. They said that following major drug recoveries, he had spent nearly five years lodged in various Punjab jails and was released on bail around four months ago.Khanna SSP Dr Darpan Ahluwalia said drug traffickers would not be spared and that police remained fully committed to wiping out the drug menace.