Punjab Police arrest key financier in cross-border narco-terror network
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, January 25, 2026: In a major breakthrough against drug trafficking and terror financing, the Punjab Police’s State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), SAS Nagar, has arrested a key financial conduit linked to an inter-state and cross-border narco-terror module, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Satnam Singh (22), a resident of village Punnewal in Sangrur district. He had earlier worked as a taxi driver with a private firm and had travelled to Azerbaijan on a tourist visa in June last year, where he allegedly came in contact with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler.
The arrest followed sustained investigations into the narco-terror network linked to Rajbir Singh alias Fauji, a key operative arrested earlier from Raxaul near the Indo-Nepal border while attempting to flee to Nepal. Rajbir Singh, who had deserted the Indian Army in February 2025, was found to be supplying heroin to a courier earlier caught with 107 grams of heroin and a 9 mm pistol with live cartridges.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigations revealed that Satnam Singh knowingly used his bank account and UPI credentials to route proceeds of heroin trafficking, acting on the directions of the Pakistan-based smuggler. The funds were allegedly used to facilitate terror financing and expansion of the drug network.
The DGP further stated that the module has links to major heroin recoveries, illegal arms trafficking, and the grenade attack in Sirsa, Haryana, in November 2025.
Providing further details, AIG SSOC SAS Nagar Deepak Pareek said that custodial interrogation of Rajbir Singh alias Fauji revealed that after returning to India in September 2025, the Pakistan-based handler re-established contact with Satnam Singh and gradually lured him into the network by offering commissions for facilitating financial transactions.
Investigations revealed that drug money was deposited into Satnam Singh’s bank account after heroin sales and later transferred to other associates of the module. It also emerged that Rajbir Singh routed funds through the account of Gurjant Singh of Tarn Taran, who has already been arrested by the Haryana Police.
AIG Pareek said that further investigations are underway and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
In this connection, FIR No. 14 dated December 10, 2025, has been registered at Police Station SSOC, SAS Nagar, under Section 21 of the NDPS Act, Section 25(1) of the Arms Act, and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).