The counter-intelligence wing in Amritsar busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of two accused and recovered 10 foreign-made sophisticated pistols from their possession, said director general of police Gaurav Yadav on Friday.
Those arrested have been identified as Resham Singh, a resident of Khusupura in Amritsar and Manpreet Singh, a resident of Khwaspur in Tarn Taran. The recovered pistols include one Turkey-made Zigana Pistol, one Austria-made Glock Pistol, two US-made Beretta Pistols, five PX5 pistols and one China-made Norinco pistol, along with magazines.
Police teams have also impounded a motorcycle being used for transporting the consignments.
Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were working at the behest of a foreign-based gangster in coordination with Pakistan-based smugglers, facilitating the smuggling of illegal arms into India. The consignment was intended for further distribution among criminal elements across Punjab, the DGP said.
The DGP said that CI wing, Amritsar, received a specific tip-off that foreign based gangster is active in the smuggling of illegal arms/ammunition from Pakistan into India using drones with the help of his Punjab-based associates.
The information further revealed that their Punjab-based associate, Resham Singh, has collected the weapon consignment and, following the Pakistani smugglers’ instructions and is expected to deliver it to suspect Manpreet Singh near Kohali village on the Amritsar-Chogawan road, said the DGP, while adding that acting swiftly, police teams laid Naka and arrested both the accused persons after recovering weapon consignment their possession.
{{/usCountry}}The information further revealed that their Punjab-based associate, Resham Singh, has collected the weapon consignment and, following the Pakistani smugglers’ instructions and is expected to deliver it to suspect Manpreet Singh near Kohali village on the Amritsar-Chogawan road, said the DGP, while adding that acting swiftly, police teams laid Naka and arrested both the accused persons after recovering weapon consignment their possession.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to dismantle the entire smuggling network.
A case has been registered under Sections 25, 25(1) A and 25(1) B of the Arms Act and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act at the police station state special operation cell (SSOC), Amritsar.