E-Paper
Amritsar: 3 members of cross-border smuggling gang nabbed with 10 pistols
Those arrested have been identified as Rajan alias Sagar (28), Surinder Singh alias Pali (24), and Jagjit Singh (25)
The Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border organised arms and narcotics smuggling module with links to Pakistan with the arrest of its three operatives and recovered 10 sophisticated pistols along with 500gm of opium from their possession, Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Rajan alias Sagar (28), a resident of Faizpura in Amritsar, Surinder Singh alias Pali (24), a resident of Tali Wala village in Fazilka, and Jagjit Singh (25), a resident of Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran. The recovered weapons include four 9MM Glock pistols and six .30-bore pistols.
In a statement issued here, Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were running an inter-district gang of smuggling and were connected to a Pakistan-based handler.
“The recovered arms were meant to be supplied to gangsters and criminals to fuel unlawful activities in Punjab,” he said.
An FIR has been registered under Sections 18-B and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar, Amritsar Commissionerate, officials said.
The DGP said that further investigations are underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to dismantle the entire network.
Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the accused Rajan was initially arrested with one .30-bore pistol and opium, and his interrogation led to the unearthing of the entire network.
During the course of investigation, Surinder was arrested, leading to the recovery of three .30-bore pistols and one 9mm pistol from his possession, the CP said, adding that further investigation has resulted in the arrest of the third accused, Jagjit, from whom five pistols, including three 9mm Glock and two .30-bore, were recovered.
The CP said that the accused Jagjit Singh had returned from Dubai four months ago. Surinder’s village is located close to the international border in Jalalabad, Fazilka district, while Jagjit’s native village lies near the border in Tarn Taran district. The accused were retrieving drone-delivered consignments from Amritsar to Fazilka and Tarn Taran sectors, and were further supplying these directly and through location-based delivery systems, the CP added.
