Punjab Police busts interstate organised crime syndicate; kingpin among five held with two pistols

CHANDIGARH: Amidst the ongoing campaign to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted an interstate organised crime syndicate with the arrest of its kingpin and four members from a flat located in Kharar, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.

The kingpin of the syndicate has been identified as Jai Sharma alias Sukha Pistol Ambarsarya, a resident of Prem Nagar in Amritsar, while, four members have been identified as Nikhil Sharma alias Lala of Sandhu Colony in Amritsar, Moni of Kot Khalsa in Amritsar, Arpit Thakur and Karan Sharma, both residents of Sri Naina Devi in district Bilaspur of Himachal Pradesh. Accused Sukha Pistol has a criminal history with seven cases pertaining to Arms Act, Snatching and Theft registered against him.

Police teams have also recovered two .32 bore pistols along with three magazines and eight live cartridges from their possession.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following reliable inputs that accused Sukha Pistol along with his accomplices had gone to Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh to procure illicit weapons, teams from Police Station Civil Line Amritsar started keeping vigil on their movements. On their return from Madhya Pradesh, Police teams have pinpointed their location in Kharar, he added.

“Acting swiftly, Police teams under the supervision of ADCP City-2 Abhimanyu Rana have conducted a raid at a flat and successfully arrested all accused persons and recovered two pistols along with ammunition from their possession,” said the DGP.

He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused persons were planning to attack members of rival gang. Accused persons have been booked under the newly introduced section 111 (Organised Crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he added.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Ranjit Singh Dhillon said that this criminal syndicate was engaged in criminal acts including theft, snatching and arms trafficking.

He said that further investigations are on to trace the forward and backward linkages of this module, and identify the MP-based arm smugglers. More arrests and recoveries are expected, he added.

A case FIR no. 118 dated 07/07/2024 has been registered under section 111 of the BNS and 25(7) of the Arms Act at Police Station Civil Line Amritsar.