UP man returning from Pak nabbed with 4 pistols at Attari

Customs officials on Thursday seized four pistols and seven magazines being smuggled into India from Pakistan at the Attari border.

Customs officials on Thursday seized four pistols and seven magazines being smuggled into India from Pakistan at the Attari border.

Four 9 mm pistols and seven empty cartridges were recovered by customs officials. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

Officials said Uttar Pradesh resident, Mohammad Ismail was arrested at the Integrated Check Post along with the pistols that were hidden inside two steel containers.

Ismail was returning to India after meeting his relatives in Pakistan along with two women family members, said officials.

Additional commissioner Customs Nitin Saini said, “Around 2 pm, three persons, including two women, reached the customs counter for clearance. Our officials noticed that the man was carrying two cylindrical-shaped steel containers. As these appeared to be fishy, we decided to closely examine the containers.”

When these containers were opened, it was found that they had small containers where four 9 mm pistols and seven empty cartridges were hidden, he added. While three pistols are Turkish-made, one is Italian-made, said Saini.

SSP Amritsar (rural) Jasdeep Singh said: “In the preliminary questioning, the accused had claimed that a person in Pakistan had handed over these containers to them. We are verifying all facts.”