The commissionerate police, Amritsar, has dismantled an illegal arms supply network following the arrest of two individuals from Tarn Taran and the recovery of eight illegal .30-bore pistols along with 103 live cartridges.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav confirmed on Thursday that the arrested suspects have been identified as Ranjit Singh, alias Jeeta, 24, a resident of Bainka village, and Gurbir Singh, alias Gora, 32, of Tara Singh village.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were in contact with foreign-based smugglers through social media applications to receive and supply consignments of illegal, foreign-made weapons to criminal elements across the state.
Ranjit has a prior criminal record with cases already registered against him under the Arms Act, NDPS Act, and Explosives Act, while probe details showed that Gurbir had returned from Dubai about six months ago, said police.
Sharing operational details, Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Harmanbir Singh Gill said the breakthrough came after police acted on secret information and laid a checkpoint near the Gurdwara Bohri Sahib road. Officers initially intercepted Ranjit at the spot and recovered one .30-bore pistol along with three live cartridges from his possession. During subsequent questioning, police conducted further searches that yielded four more .30-bore pistols and 100 live cartridges from his custody.
Continued interrogation of Ranjit led to the identification and arrest of his associate, Gurbir, from whom the police recovered three more .30-bore pistols.
{{/usCountry}}Continued interrogation of Ranjit led to the identification and arrest of his associate, Gurbir, from whom the police recovered three more .30-bore pistols.
{{/usCountry}}The DGP said further investigation is underway to all other individuals associated with the network.
A case under Sections 25(6), 25(7), and 25(8) of the Arms Act has been registered at the Islamabad police station in the Amritsar commissionerate.