Amritsar police bust cross-border arms module; AK-47, Glock pistols seized
Two mobile phones seized from the accused have provided crucial leads regarding their contacts with handlers across the border
With the arrest of two persons, the Amritsar (Rural) police, on Saturday, claimed to have busted a cross-border module and seized a cache of sophisticated weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, three foreign-made Glock pistols and 36 cartridges from them.
The weapon consignment was reportedly dropped by a Pakistani drone near the Muhawa border village in the Attari sub-division.
According to the police, the weapons were meant to be delivered in Gurdaspur border district, targeting senior police officials in the aftermath of the flagship programme of the state government and the Punjab Police, ‘Gangstara te Vaar’.
Earlier, an ASI and a home guard were shot dead at the Dorangla police outpost in Gurdaspur in February.
The seizure was made during a special operation following a specific intelligence input. The police received information that two suspects had picked up a consignment of weapons, recently dropped in the Indian territory by a drone from across the border.
Acting swiftly, the police conducted a raid and arrested the accused, identified as Amarjeet Singh alias Rohit, a resident of Chheharta, and Gursewak Singh, a resident of Navi Abadi in Attari.
“During the operation, the police seized one AK-47 assault rifle, two magazines, 36 rounds of AK 47, three Glock pistols, four magazines and four rounds from their possession, said Amritsar (Rural) SSP Sohail Qasim Mir. The arms were meant to harm some senior police officials, he added.
Mir said the module was backed by Pakistan’s ISI while the accused were in contact with two foreign-based handlers.
They were in touch with them through encrypted mobile applications. He said some other names had also cropped up during the preliminary investigations and efforts were on to nab them.
The weapons were dropped by a Pakistani drone inside the Indian territory near Attari in a blue-coloured suitcase.
Two mobile phones seized from the accused have also provided crucial leads regarding their contacts with handlers across the border.
The accused were produced before a local court on Friday evening, which remanded them to five days of police custody for further interrogation.
