Six individuals, including a juvenile, have been arrested in Amritsar after a cross-border arms smuggling module was busted, Punjab Police said on Thursday.
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that Amritsar Commissionerate Police apprehended Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (27), Manish Kumar alias Jerry (24), Saroop Singh alias Roop (27), Chamkaur Singh (20), and Vansh Sharma (23).
Police recovered seven pistols from the accused during the operation. Probe revealed that the accused were in touch with a foreign-based handler operating from Portugal. He was helping them smuggle illegal arms from Pakistan using drones, Yadav said. He added that the accused used to collect these weapon consignments and then supply them to criminal elements.
Further probe is ongoing to trace both forward and backward links in the case and to dismantle the entire network, the officer said.
Sharing details, Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on a tip-off, police teams carried out an operation and arrested Gurpreet alias Gopi along with a juvenile. Two 9mm Glock pistols were recovered from them.
During further questioning, the accused made disclosures that led to the arrest of their associates Manish alias Jerry, Saroop alias Roop, and Chamkaur Singh. Police recovered three more 9mm Glock pistols from them, he said.
Later, based on the disclosure by Chamkaur, Vansh Sharma was also arrested. Police recovered two .30 bore pistols from his possession, Bhullar added. Manish alias Jerry was earlier involved in a firing incident targeting police officials in Batala last year and had been absconding in that case, the officer said. Saroop alias Roop also has a criminal background. He has been involved in multiple theft cases and cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), Bhullar said.
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