6 held with 3kg heroin, 8 pistols in Amritsar

Apart from recovering narcotics and weapons, police teams have also impounded a car and a motorcycle being used for smuggling activities

State special operation cell (SSOC) and counter-intelligence wing, Amritsar, busted two weapons and drugs smuggling modules in separate operations, arresting six people and recovering 2.9kg of heroin, eight pistols and six cartridges, director general of police Gaurav Yadav said on Friday.

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were involved in cross-border smuggling. (HT Photo)

Those arrested were identified as Inderpal Singh and Sikandarjit Singh, both residents of Bhindi Aulakh village in Amritsar, Happy Singh alias Veerpal Singh of Kakkar in Amritsar, Sunil Masih and Rajan Masih, both residents of Mahal in Gurdaspur, and Pardeep Singh of Noorpur in Amritsar.

Apart from recovering narcotics and weapons, police teams have also impounded a car and a motorcycle being used for smuggling activities.

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were involved in cross-border smuggling and received consignments of weapons and narcotics through drones for further distribution among criminal elements in the state.

Further investigation is underway to establish the network’s forward and backward linkages and identify all those associated with the cross-border operations, he said.

AIG Sukhminder Singh Mann said that CI-Amritsar team received a reliable input that suspects Sunil and Rajan had received a large consignment of pistols and were expected to deliver them to their associate Pardeep Singh near Noorpur village in Amritsar. Acting swiftly, police teams intercepted the trio and recovered seven pistols from their possession, he said.

In another operation, the AIG said that teams from SSOC-Amritsar apprehended Inderpal, Sikanderjit and Happy Singh and recovered 2.9 kg heroin and a pistol from their possession.

AIG Mann said a comprehensive investigation was underway to unearth the full scale of the network. More arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days, he added.

Two separate FIRs under Sections 25 and 25(8) of the Arms Act and Sections 61(2) and 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, Sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act, and Sections 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam have been registered at the SSOC police station in Amritsar, officials said.