GUJAR KHAN: The Gujar Khan police have arrested three officials of the Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) for allegedly supplying narcotics to local drug barons and have secured a five-day physical remand of the suspects for investigations.

According to sources, the suspects were posted at Missa Kiswal PHP Post.

The sources also alleged that the officials used to keep half of the confiscated drugs from peddlers and used the rest for registering cases against the arrested suspects.

According to Gujar Khan SHO, Malik Nazeer Gheeba, the involvement of the PHP officials in the drug business emerged during investigations of a drug case recently registered by the Gujar Khan police.

As per the FIR, a consignment of over 65kg of narcotics was seized.

The SHO said that strong links between the PHP officials and the suspects wanted in the drugs case were discovered during investigations, and three officials of Missa Kiswal check post were taken into custody.

SHO Gheeba added that the officials used to sell a significant percentage of the drugs recovered during snap-checking on G. T. Road.

Sources told Dawn that the officials were permanent residents of Sohawa tehsil of the Jhelum district and were taken into custody by Gujar Khan police last week.

The officials were also produced before senior police officers of PHP and Rawalpindi police last week, where they were individually interrogated regarding links with the local drug barons, they added.

The sources also said a separate request for departmental action against the three arrested officials had also been made.

The alleged illegal activities of PHP Missa Kiswal, which falls under the territorial jurisdiction of the Sohawa police station in district Jhelum, remained secret to the local police.

Multiple attempts were made to contact the SSP of PHP in the Rawalpindi region, Mohammad Bin Ashraf, but he did not respond.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2025