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Foreign hand suspected in Jalandhar AAP leader’s murder: Punjab DGP
Gaurav Yadav says 400% surge in smuggling of Glock pistols from Pakistan via drones since Op Sindoor; CM Bhagwant Mann monitoring murder probe.
Hours after the murder of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Lucky Oberoi, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav visited the crime scene outside the Model Town gurdwara in Jalandhar on Friday afternoon to oversee the investigation.
The DGP, accompanied by senior officials, confirmed that specialised investigative units have secured important leads. While the top cop stated that preliminary findings do not yet label the incident as organized crime, he revealed that the names of several criminals have surfaced during the initial probe.
Yadav said that certain foreign-based criminals—potentially linked to personal enmities with Oberoi—have already claimed responsibility for the hit, and police are probing these claims.
Investigators are scanning technical and digital trails to map the movement of the suspects.
Forty-three-year-old Oberoi, a financier and property dealer, was shot at least 8–9 times while boarding his Mahindra Thar after morning prayers. CCTV footage showed a hooded youth firing from close range before fleeing on a scooter.
The DGP said the firearm used in the 10-second execution was likely a sophisticated Glock pistol, smuggled from Pakistan. He directly attributed the availability of such high-end arms to a rise in drone activity following Operation Sindoor last May.
“After Operation Sindoor, there has been an increase of 400% in cross-border smuggling of Pakistan-made Glock weapons through drones by the ISI,” the DGP said.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann is personally tracking the investigation progress, reflecting the political sensitivity of the case.
