Cross-border arms smuggling racket busted; 3 held, 9 pistols recovered

With the arrest of three persons, the Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of Amritsar Police today busted an illegal arms smuggling module operating from Pakistan and recovered nine sophisticated pistols along with magazines.

Those arrested were identified as Davinder Singh, a resident of Bhangwan village, and Paramjit Singh alias Pamma and Harmeet Singh alias Meetu — both residents of Bhindi Aulakh in Amritsar Rural.

On Thursday, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations revealed that the trio was working under the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler. The recovered weapons were intended for Sherpreet Singh alias Gulaba, a close aide of notorious gangster Jobanjit Singh alias Billa Manga, to facilitate criminal activities in Punjab.

He said that CI Amritsar received a tip-off about Billa Manga, who was operating his gang from abroad through his local associates. Acting on specific intelligence, CI teams intercepted the accused near Gurdwara Baba Mohri Ji at Chogawan, leading to the recovery of the arms consignment, which had been dropped via drone from across the Indo-Pak border in the area of Bhindi Aulakh.

The DGP added that Sherpreet alias Gulaba is a habitual offender with seven criminal cases registered against him, including those related to possession of illegal arms, theft and robbery.

“Further investigation is underway to identify backward and forward linkages of the network and to trace other members involved in this cross-border operation,” he said.

A case has been registered under Sections 25 and 25(1-A) of the Arms Act and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the State Special Operation Cell here.