13 pistols, ammo seized; juvenile among 11 held
AMRITSAR, Aug. 2 -- At least 13 pistols and ammunition were recovered as Amritsar police busted three cross-border illegal arms smuggling modules with links to Pakistan on Friday, officials said.
Amritsar commissionerate police arrested four operatives of two modules, including a juvenile, and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav.
Those arrested have been identified as Sikanderjeet Singh (19) of Bhagwanpura village in Tarn Taran; Pradeep Singh alias Babbal (43) of Antarjami Colony, Amritsar; Jarnail Singh (34) of New Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Amritsar; and a 17-year-old juvenile from Tarn Taran.
"The recovered weapons include two Glock pistols, four .30-bore Star pistols, and one .32-bore pistol, along with six live cartridges. Apart from recovering weapons, police teams have also recovered their motorcycle, which they were using to deliver consignment," Yadav said, adding that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and retrieved weapon consignments near the international border.
The weapons were meant to fuel gang rivalries and disrupt peace in the region, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backwards linkages. Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that preliminary investigations revealed that the accused, Sikander, along with a juvenile, was in touch with Pak-based smugglers. "Their home is close to the international border, and they retrieved the drone-dropped consignments from the locations provided to them," he said.
The other module was busted with the arrest of the accused, identified as Pardeep and Jarnail. "The weapons were received from Pakistan smugglers and were meant for deceased gangster Ravneet Singh alias Sonu Mota, he said, adding that further investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
Two FIRs under relevant sections of the Arms Act have been registered at police station Gate Hakima in Amritsar and police station B-Division in Amritsar.
In another case, counter-intelligence (CI), Amritsar busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with links to Pakistan and arrested five of its operatives and recovered six sophisticated pistols from their possession, the DGP said.
Those arrested have been identified as Jagroop Singh of Dhun in Tarn Taran, Navdeep Singh of Patti Lahian Di in Tarn Taran, Arshdeep Singh of Shaliwal in Amritsar, Gurlal Singh of Rajoke in Tarn Taran and Joban Singh of Patti Mana Ki in Tarn Taran. According to information, the arrested accused Jagroop and Navdeep have criminal backgrounds with several cases pertaining to the Arms Act and the NDPS Act registered against them. The recovered weapons include four 9MM Glock pistols and two .30-bore pistols, along with magazines and live cartridges.
Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused persons were acting upon the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler identified as Rana, who has been sending consignments of illegal weapons from across the border, he said.
The DGP said that teams of CI-Amritsar arrested five accused from a bus stop in Panjwar, situated on Amritsar-Bhikhiwind Road.
A case under sections 25, 25(1)(A) and 25(1)(B) of the Arms Act and section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at the police station, state special operation cell, Amritsar....
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