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Amritsar: 4 members of arms smuggling gang held with seven pistols
A case has been registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act at police station Chheharta, the officials said.
Amritsar Commissionerate Police apprehended four persons involved in cross-border arms smuggling and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession, Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav said here on Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Akashdeep Singh alias Akash (20) of Daoke village in Amritsar, Ramanpreet Singh (23) of Bagha Kalan village in Amritsar, Pratap Singh (25) of Sur Singh village in Ferozepur and Sarbjit Singh alias Babbal (25) of Debi Wala Bazar village in Amritsar. The recovered pistols include two 9MM PX5, two 9MM Glocks and three .30-bore pistols.
Yadav said that the arrested accused were in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and have been receiving illegal weapon consignments near the Indo-Pak border. The arrested accused persons were operating from border villages and further supplying arms to gangsters in the state, the DGP said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backwards linkages in this case to further uncover the entire network.
Sharing operation details, Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that in view of enhanced security measures ahead of Independence Day, police teams, acting on specific intelligence inputs, have arrested Akash and Raman from the area under police station, Chheharta, and recovered four pistols— two PX5 9mm and two .30-bore. “Subsequently, their two accomplices, Pratap Singh and Sarbjeet Singh alias Babbal, were also arrested from the same area, and three additional pistols were recovered from their possession,” he said.
He said that the accused Akash resides close to the Pakistan border, and he, along with Raman, used to receive consignments of arms.
“While their associates Sarbjeet and Pratap were coordinating and handling the weapon supply operations, he added. The CP said that the probe is going on, and more arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days.
A case has been registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act at police station Chheharta, the officials said.
