Arms smuggling accused sent to police custody by local court

A local court on Wednesday remanded Chamkaur Singh, a resident of Nat village in Batala, to police custody till October 17 in connection with a major cross-border arms smuggling case.

His interrogation has revealed shocking details linking the network to US-based gangster Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, who is allegedly in direct contact with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to police sources, Gopi has been orchestrating targeted killings and weapon smuggling operations in Punjab from abroad. Acting on his instructions, the ISI has reportedly airdropped multiple consignments of sophisticated and assault rifles and explosives via drones in Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Tarn Taran sectors over the past several months.

During interrogation, Chamkaur Singh allegedly disclosed that he had been working for Gopi's network and had retrieved weapons from drone drops near the international border. Following his arrest, the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) recovered a cache of arms, including an AK-47 rifle, two magazines, three Glock pistols, seven magazines, and 110 live cartridges.

In light of these revelations, senior officials from security agencies have arrived at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Amritsar for coordinated questioning. Police have also seized Chamkaur Singh's mobile phone.

Earlier, SSOC teams had arrested Gurvinder Singh alias Ginder, a resident of Sangrai village and Vipin Kumar alias Manish from Mariyanwala in Gurdaspur. Their questioning had led police to Chamkaur, whose disclosures have exposed a terror and smuggling nexus spanning Pakistan, the US and Punjab.