Juvenile among 5 held for cross-border arms, narcotics smuggling in Amritsar

The Amritsar Commissionerate Police have busted an arms and narcotics supply network with links to Pakistan, arresting five operatives, including a juvenile, and recovering a cache of weapons and drugs from their possession.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday that the seizures included 12 sophisticated .30 bore pistols and 1.5 kg of heroin.

Those arrested have been identified as Joban Singh (22), Karandeep Singh, alias Pandit (19), and Ajaypal Singh (18), all residents of Mari Megha village in Tarn Taran, Jashanpreet Singh (18) of Rania village here and a 16-year-old juvenile.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that Joban Singh and Jashanpreet Singh were in direct contact with Pakistan-based smugglers through social media platforms. The consignment of arms was being pushed in to escalate inter-gang rivalries in Punjab,” said the DGP, adding that further investigations are underway to expose the entire nexus.

Providing details of the operation, Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said police teams intercepted three suspects — Joban Singh, Karandeep Singh, and Ajaypal Singh — at a naka near Gate Hakima area, recovering five pistols from them. The three hail from Mari Megha village, located close to the International Border.

“Based on their disclosures during interrogation, Joban Singh’s associates Jashanpreet Singh and a juvenile were later nabbed with seven more pistols. Joban Singh also led the police to a location where 1.5 kg of heroin was concealed,” Bhullar said.

He said the weapons and drug consignments had been dropped via drones by Pakistan-based smugglers. He said names of some foreign handlers were also cropped up during investigations.

He said Jashanpreet and his maternal uncle were involved drug peddling. He said Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) had arrested his uncle from Ludhiana with 500 gm ICE and two pistols while Jashanpreet was absconding in that case. They had also links with some smugglers and their handlers in Europe and Pakistan.

A case under the Arms Act and the NDPS Act has been registered at the Gate Hakima police station.