Amritsar Police bust cross-border arms smuggling module, 5 pistols seized

The police dismantled a suspected arms smuggling module operating near the Indo-Pak border and arrested two accused with five sophisticated pistols and live cartridges.Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the police arrested the duo — Shera Singh (26) of Bhindi Nain village and Jagroop Singh alias Joopa (21) of Toor village — from near Sada Pind on Amritsar-Attari bypass road.

During the search, the police recovered an Austria-made Glock 9mm pistol along with two live cartridges from Jagroop Singh, while a .30 bore PX5 Storm pistol with two live cartridges was seized from Shera Singh.

Subsequent interrogation led to the recovery of three additional weapons — two .30 bore pistols (made in China – Norinco) and one country-made .32 bore pistol — along with more live ammunition.

Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers through social media platforms. The arms consignments were reportedly dropped using drones across the border and later collected by the accused, who then supplied them to criminal elements on further instructions, he said.

He said the Bhindi Nain and Toor villages were located near the international border with Pakistan. Therefore, the two accused allegedly exploited the terrain and proximity to facilitate the illegal trade. Empty grounds were reportedly used during late-night hours for drone drops to avoid detection.

Shera has a criminal history. He was previously booked in a 2017 case involving charges of murder, attempt to murder and rape at Bhindi Saida police station. He was accused of rape and murder of a girl. In another case registered by NCB Amritsar in 2024, approximately 490 grams of heroin was allegedly recovered from his possession under the NDPS Act.

Jagroop Singh, a labourer, has no prior criminal record, the police said.

Further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages of the network.