CROSS BORDER ARMS SMUGGLING NETWORK BUSTED IN AMRITSAR; FOUR HELD WITH 7 PISTOLS
— ARRESTED ACCUSED WERE SUPPLYING ARMS TO GANGSTERS IN THE STATE,: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— MAJOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AVERTED IN THE REGION: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, August 7:
In a swift intelligence-led operation amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police apprehended four persons involved in cross-border arms smuggling and recovered seven sophisticated Pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Akashdeep Singh alias Akash (20) of village Daoke in Amritsar, Ramanpreet Singh (23) of village Bagha Kalan in Amritsar, Pratap Singh (25) of village Sur Singh in Ferozepur and Sarbjit Singh alias Babbal (25) of Debi Wala Bazar in Amritsar. The recovered pistols include two 9MM PX5, two 9MM Glock and three .30 bore pistols.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused were in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and have been receiving illegal weapon consignments near the Indo-Pak border. The arrested accused persons were operating from border villages and further supplying arms to gangsters in the state, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to further uncover the entire network and its linkages.
Sharing operation details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that in view of enhanced security measures ahead of Independence Day, police teams, acting on specific intelligence inputs, have arrested Akash and Raman from the area under Police Station Chheharta and recovered four pistols— two PX5 9mm and two .30 bore. Subsequently, their two accomplices Pratap Singh and Sarbjeet Singh alias Babbal were also arrested from the same area, and three additional pistols were recovered from their possession.
He said that arrested accused Akash resides close to the International border and he along with Raman used to receive consignments of arms from across the border, while, their associates Sarbjeet and Pratap were coordinating and handling the weapon supply operations. With the arrest of these accused persons, a major criminal activity has been averted in the area, he said.
The CP said that the probe is going on and more arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days.
A case FIR no. 147 dated 02-08-2025 has been registered under section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Chheharta in Amritsar.
