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Three wanted for cross-border arms smuggling held after Jandiala encounter
The anti-drug special task force (STF) arrested three persons, who were booked for allegedly getting a cache of arms and ammunition smuggled from Pakistan, after
The anti-drug special task force (STF) arrested three persons, who were booked for allegedly getting a cache of arms and ammunition smuggled from Pakistan, after a brief encounter at a dhaba on the Amritsar-Delhi national highway in the Jandiala area of Amritsar district.
Those arrested are Sukhraj Singh, alias Sukha of Gurdaspur’s Lakhnpal village, Bhupinder Singh, alias Bhinda and Rajpal Singh, alias Raja of Chande and Rasoolpur Kalan villages in Amritsar.
Officials said the three were to receive a cache of arms and ammunition, including five AK rifles, 10 magazines and an Australia-made Glock pistol, that the STF and the Border Security Force (BSF) in a joint operation recovered from fields across the fence in Mamdot village of Ferozepur sector at the India-Pakistan border on September 24.
The seizure was not disclosed as it might have hampered their probe, they said.
A case was registered against the three under sections 21-61-85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at the STF’s Mohali police station.
Addressing a press conference in Amritsar, assistant inspector general (AIG STF, Ludhiana) Snehdeep Sharma said, “On Monday, we got a tip-off that the three along with their two aides gathered at a dhaba. When a team led by additional director general of police (ADGP STF) Harpreet Singh Sidhu reached the spot, one of the accused opened fire at the cops who reciprocated. We nabbed them with two pistols, three magazines and 64 rounds. No one was injured in the encounter.”
“Their two accomplices managed to flee. Efforts are being made to arrest them. Sukhraj and Bhupinder are facing several criminal cases, including attempt to murder,” he added.
“Our preliminary probe suggests that the accused were being used for movement of weapons. We are trying to find out where these weapons were to be taken,” he said.
“Our investigation is on to ascertain whether these three have any link with the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module which was busted by police. We are also probing as how the weapons were concealed across the fence. But no drone was used for this,” he added.
On September 22, police had arrested four KZF members from Chohla Sahib in Tarn Taran and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including five AK-47s, from them. The arms consignment was smuggled from Pakistan with the use of drones, according to the police.
