A smuggling operation mirroring the plot of the film Pushpa was busted by police in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Wednesday. A smuggler from Punjab was caught using a custom-built, fake diesel tank under his truck to secretly transport narcotics across state lines.
The accused was arrested in the Tejaji Nagar area after police intercepted a truck following a precise tip-off about a major narcotics movement from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab.
Police said they received specific information that a truck was carrying a large consignment of drugs hidden in a modified vehicle structure. Acting swiftly, police teams set up a road blockade and stopped the vehicle.
Videos that have surfaced show officers discovering that a fake diesel tank had been fabricated beneath the truck chassis during a detailed inspection. The structure was designed to look exactly like a fuel tank but was actually a hollow chamber used to hide narcotics.
When the tank was opened, police recovered 87 kilograms of banned poppy husk. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Krishnalal Chandani said the estimated market value of the seized drugs is around Rs 25 lakh. He said that the concealment technique was deliberately intended to convince police that the structure was merely part of the vehicle's fuel system.
"This was an extremely clever modification. From the outside, it looked like a standard diesel tank. No one would suspect it was hiding narcotics," said DCP Chandani.
The truck driver was identified as Butta Singh, a resident of Punjab's Jalandhar district. During interrogation, he confessed that he was transporting the consignment from Madhya Pradesh's Agar district to Punjab. Police also confirmed that the accused is not a first-time offender and has a previous case registered under the NDPS Act in 2016 related to narcotics smuggling.
Police are now probing the larger network behind the operation, including who supplied the narcotics, who financed the transport, and who was supposed to receive the consignment in Punjab.
Officials believe this was not an isolated run, but part of a larger interstate drug trafficking network. "This arrest is just the tip of the iceberg. We are now tracking the entire chain of suppliers, middlemen, and receivers," a senior police officer said.
