E-Paper
Arms smuggling racket busted, 5 arrested with 6 pistols in Amritsar
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Arms Act at Cantonment police station, said officials.
Police have dismantled an illegal arms smuggling module operating in the border belt and arrested five accused, including a juvenile, in a crackdown on cross-border crime.
The operation was carried out on the basis of specific intelligence inputs, leading to the recovery of six sophisticated pistols and 14 live cartridges, said officials.
The initial arrests were made when Akashdeep Singh, alias Akash, and Harmandeep Singh were apprehended with two pistols, including a .30-bore weapon and a Glock 9mm pistol, along with magazines and live cartridges.
Sharing details at a press conference, Amritsar commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said: “Akashdeep interrogation led to the recovery of another pistol, a .32-bore Beretta, along with cartridges. Police teams also arrested Manish Singh, Kishan Singh and a juvenile from the Chheharta area. Three more pistols — manufactured in Italy, the United States, and Croatia — were recovered from their possession.”
Investigations revealed that Akashdeep was in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers, identified as Akash and Rehan, through social media platforms. The illegal arms consignments were reportedly delivered using drones in the Attari area, highlighting a growing concern over cross-border smuggling techniques. The weapons were then supplied to local criminals with the help of his associates, officials said.
Akashdeep has a criminal background and was booked under the NDPS Act. After being released from jail in March, he allegedly began recruiting young men from nearby villages by offering them money and gradually involving them in illegal activities linked to the smuggling network, said officials.
Senior police officers, including DCP (detective) Ravinderpal Singh and other members of the anti-narcotics operation cell, led the operation.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Arms Act at Cantonment police station, said officials.
