Six arrested in illegal arms supply chain linked to Pakistan

With the arrest of six youths, including a juvenile, the Amritsar police have busted an arms supply module allegedly linked to Pakistan-based smugglers. The police recovered five sophisticated pistols, 34 live cartridges and a sharp-edged weapon during the operation.

Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that a case has been registered under Sections 25 (6, 7, 8), 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at the Maqboolpura police station.

Sharing details, he said that during routine patrolling and checking of suspicious persons in the Maqboolpura area, a police team apprehended Rohit Kumar (18), a resident of Maqboolpura, along with a juvenile. During their search, the police recovered a .30 bore pistol along with two live cartridges and a sharp-edged weapon (datar).

During preliminary interrogation, Rohit allegedly revealed that the weapon had been supplied by Karanbir Singh, alias Ajay (24), a resident of Kale village in Tarn Taran. Acting on this disclosure, police teams arrested Karanbir Singh the same day.

Further questioning of Karanbir Singh led the police to three more suspects — Jashandeep Singh, alias Giani (18), Onkar Singh, alias Vansh (21), and Akashdeep Singh (24), all residents of Khalra in Tarn Taran — who were allegedly part of the supply chain.

The police later arrested the trio and recovered four more pistols, including a Glock 9mm, a PX5 .30 bore pistol, a Taurus 9mm pistol and a Gretta 9mm pistol reportedly made in Pakistan, along with 32 live 9mm cartridges.

Bhullar said that Rohit Kumar and Onkar Singh were in contact with a local handler linked to Pakistan-based arms smugglers, identified as Bhatti, through social media platforms. The handler allegedly coordinated the smuggling of weapons from across the border using drones. After receiving the consignments, the accused would distribute the weapons to criminal elements in the region.

The police said further investigation is underway to identify the handler and uncover the wider network involved in the cross-border arms smuggling racket. All the accused are currently in police custody and further investigations are in progress.