The Amritsar police have busted an illegal arms smuggling module and arrested five persons, including a juvenile, involved in the supply and distribution of sophisticated weapons allegedly smuggled from across the border through drones.
The police recovered six foreign-made pistols and 14 live cartridges from the accused during separate operations conducted on the basis of intelligence inputs.
A case under Sections 25(8), 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered at Cantonment police station on May 1.
During the initial operation, the police arrested Akashdeep Singh alias Akash, a resident of Kuhali village, and Harmandeep Singh of Attari village. Two pistols, including a .30 bore weapon and an Austria-made Glock 9 mm pistol along with six live cartridges, were recovered from their possession.
Further investigation led to the recovery of another .32 bore Beretta pistol and two live cartridges on the disclosure made by Akashdeep Singh.
Continuing the probe, police teams later arrested Manish Singh alias Manish, Kishan Singh and a juvenile from the Chheharta area. Three more pistols — including an Italy-made .32 bore pistol, a US-made .30 bore pistol and a Croatia-made Glock 9 mm pistol — along with six live cartridges were seized from them.
Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the investigations revealed that Akashdeep Singh was allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers identified as Akash and Rehan through social media platforms. The arms consignments were reportedly dropped through drones in the Attari sector and later supplied to criminal elements with the help of his associates.
He said Akashdeep Singh was earlier booked in a case registered at Lopoke police station under the NDPS Act involving the recovery of 2 kg heroin. He was released from jail on March 23 this year.
The police suspect that after his release, he lured unemployed youths from nearby villages with money and gradually involved them in illegal activities linked to the arms smuggling network.
Among those arrested, three youths aged 19 years had no previous criminal record. Police also stated that the juvenile’s father is presently lodged in jail in connection with a 2020 heroin recovery case registered at Gate Hakima police station.
The police said further investigations were under way to trace backward and forward linkages of the cross-border smuggling network.
