Army soldier among 7 held with 14 pistols, 29 kg heroin in Amritsar

Army soldier among 7 held with 14 pistols, 29 kg heroin in Amritsar

Chandigarh, Amritsar Rural Police has busted four separate illegal arms and narcotics supply networks with the arrest of seven individuals, including an Army man, and recovered 14 sophisticated pistols and 20.130 kg of heroin from their possession, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday.

Army soldier among 7 held with 14 pistols, 29 kg heroin in Amritsar

Those arrested have been identified as Uday and Patras ; the soldier has been identified as Yudhvir Singh ; Sajan Singh and Sahilpreet ; Jarmanjot Singh ; and Sahibnoor Singh , an official statement said.

A report regarding Yudhvir's involvement in "cross-border smuggling" is being sent to senior Army authorities, police said.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with a foreign-based handler, who was facilitating illegal arms consignments for further distribution among criminal elements through an organised network.

Further investigation is underway to uncover the complete network and establish backwards and forward linkages, he said.

Sharing operational details, Inspector General of Police Border Range, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that in the first operation, acting on specific inputs, teams from Gharinda police station intercepted Uday and Patras when they were going towards Khemkaran after retrieving a drone-dropped consignment of 10 pistols, including one 9 mm and nine .30 bore pistols.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the duo had previously retrieved and supplied at least 20-25 consignments of weapons, he said.

Bhullar said that in the second operation, a joint team of the Crime Investigation Agency, Amritsar Rural and SHO Gharinda apprehended an Army soldier identified as Yudhvir Singh, who had come home on leave, and recovered one .30 bore pistol from his possession.

Earlier, Yudhvir Singh was also arrested in an Arms Act case, he said, adding that a detailed report regarding his "involvement in cross-border smuggling is being sent to senior Army authorities".

Sharing details of the third operation, Senior Superintendent of Police Amritsar Rural Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said that acting on reliable inputs, Gharinda police station teams intercepted Sajan Singh and Sahilpreet, and recovered a massive haul of 20.130 kg of heroin from their possession.

In the fourth operation, the SSP said a joint team led by incharge special cell Amritsar rural and SHO Kathu Nangal apprehended Jarmanjot Singh and Sahibnoor Singh, and recovered two pistols from their possession.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.