College girl, two male accomplices arrested in Punjab for smuggling drugs

Amritsar: The unmasking of an educated woman in a space which is traditionally ascribed to men itself explains the prevailing dangerous trend among young girls in going to any length in pursuit of realizing their materialistic needs.

The arrest of an MSc Biotech student of Khalsa College Lovepreet Kaur by the sleuths of Counter Intelligence (CI) in a smuggling case along with her two male accomplices from Amritsar is a warning or tip of an iceberg of the dangerous but hidden trend that has raised many an eyebrow.

Till her arrest by CI on April 28, Lovepreet Kaur, a resident of Kotkapura, was just another young girl going to college for higher studies to boost her professional career but the preliminary investigations by CI revealed how she was perilously close to becoming the notorious smuggler of the future.

Kaur along with cousin brothers Deepak Rai and Mehak Rai, both residents of border village Mahawa, were arrested by CI along with 6 kg of heroin during a raid conducted by CI at a flat rented by Lovepreet Kaur and Deepak Rai who lived in a live-in relationship near Amritsar, informed Assistant Inspector General, CI, Surinder Singh.

The value of seized drugs is claimed to be around Rs 42 crore in the international market.

However, police were yet to get into details of the extent of her involvement in the smuggling operation during the three days of police remand given by the court.

The principal of Khalsa College Dr. Mehal Singh said they had an MSc Biotech student by the name Lovepreet Kaur but said he was not sure whether it was the same Lovepreet Kaur who was arrested by police.

But the moot question is how many more ‘smuggler’  educated young girls like Lovepreet are allegedly involved in the smuggling of drugs or in its transportation all along the Indo Pak international border spanning around 553 km in Punjab?

Police maintain that it is a matter of investigation but will the statistics of underground cross-border smuggling of drugs and its transportation be ever revealed even as there is no formal data source that could provide the engagement of women smugglers to understand the prevailing situation and take corrective measures?