Amritsar Police Bust Cross-Border Arms Smuggling Ring, 5 Arrested

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of five accused persons and recovery of eight sophisticated pistols along with live cartridges, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday.

Arrests and Seizures

The arrested accused have been identified as Arshdeep Singh alias D (21), resident of Guru Ki Wadali in Amritsar; Manpreet Singh alias Mann (26), resident of village Bhaini in Amritsar; Sukhraj Singh alias Billa (29), resident of village Naushera Dhalla in Tarn Taran; Rahul Gill alias Rahul (22), native of Bhikhiwind and presently residing at village Drajke in Tarn Taran; and Arshdeep Singh alias Gagarh (25), resident of village Lohke in Tarn Taran. Police said all the accused have previous criminal antecedents, with cases registered under the Arms Act, NDPS Act, Attempt to Murder, Kidnapping, and Prison Act. The recovered weapons include one 9MM Zigana pistol, one.30 bore PX3 (Made in China), one.30 bore Beretta (Made in Italy), three 9MM Glock pistols and two.32 bore pistols, along with live cartridges.

Modus Operandi Revealed

DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in contact with a foreign-based smuggler through virtual numbers. He added that the module was receiving consignments of weapons and drugs via drones from across the border for further distribution to criminal elements in Punjab.

"The accused were in contact with a foreign-based smuggler using virtual numbers. The module was receiving weapons and drug consignments via drones from across the border," the DGP said, adding that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages and identify other members of the network.

How the Module Was Busted

Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said police action was initiated based on reliable inputs, following which the accused, Rahul Gill, was apprehended and two pistols were recovered from his possession. He said that during further investigation, acting on Rahul's disclosure statement, police arrested Arshdeep Singh alias Gagarh and recovered one Glock pistol from him.

The CP further said that two more operatives, Arshdeep Singh alias D and Manpreet Singh alias Mann-, were subsequently arrested while they were travelling on a motorcycle near Meeri Peeri Academy Road in Chheharta, Amritsar. Police recovered two pistols from their possession, while two additional weapons were recovered based on their disclosure statements.

During interrogation, both accused disclosed that the weapons and ammunition were procured from Sukhraj Singh alias Billa. Acting on this input, police arrested Sukhraj Singh and recovered a.30 bore Beretta pistol from his possession.

Police said further investigation is underway to uncover the full network and establish its cross-border linkages. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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