Punjab Police dismantle drug trafficking, arms, explosives smuggling network; arrest seven

Chandigarh, Oct 21 (IANS) In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police on Wednesday said they have dismantled a drug trafficking, illegal arms and explosives smuggling network by apprehending seven accused and recovering one hand grenade, two pistols and 3.491 kg heroin, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

He said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with foreign-based smugglers supplying illegal weapons for further distribution among criminal elements.

First information reports (FIRs) have been registered at the police stations in Chatiwind and Lopoke in Amritsar.

Further investigation is underway to uncover the complete network and establish linkages, the DGP added.

Last week, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar busted a cross-border arms and explosives smuggling module with the arrest of five people, including a father-son duo, and recovered one .30 bore assault rifle, two hand grenades and 13 foreign-made sophisticated pistols from their possession.

Those arrested were identified as Gurpreet Singh and his son Jaskaran Singh, both residents of Ballarwal village in Ajnala, Amritsar; Veenu, a resident of Sagarpur in Batala; Amritpal Singh, a resident of Rasulpur village in Batala; and Gaurav Masih, a resident of Gounspura village in Batala.

The recovered pistols include four 9MM Glocks and nine .30 bore pistols, along with 25 cartridges. Apart from recovering arms and explosives, police teams had also impounded their two motorcycles used in the logistics movement of the consignments.

Sharing operational details, DGP Yadav had said the Amritsar Police received specific intelligence that a father-son duo were in constant contact with a foreign-based smuggler and had been retrieving drone-dropped consignments of arms, ammunition, and explosives from across the border on his instructions to supply them further through operatives — Veenu, Amritpal Singh and Gaurav Masih.

The input specifically revealed that Gurpreet and Jaskaran were supposed to meet their associates near Teri village in Ajnala to deliver the arms and explosives consignment. Acting swiftly on the input, the police apprehended all five accused on the spot along with the arms and explosives consignment.

–IANS

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