Two arms smugglers arrested after encounter with police

The police have busted a smuggling module of illegal weapons with the arrest of its two operatives after a brief exchange of fire near village Bhusse in Sarai Amanat Khan early in the morning today, said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhimanyu Rana here on Tuesday.

The SSP said that those arrested have been identified as Sukhdev Singh alias Dev, a resident of Rattan Kalan, Attari (Amritsar Rural), and Swarn Singh, a resident of Konewala in Ramdass area of the district.

The police teams have also recovered two sophisticated pistols including one 9mm Glock and one .30 calibre Px5 along with seven live cartridges and three empty bullet shells from their possession.

SSP Abhimanyu Rana said that acting on a tip-off about the bike-borne suspects, who were roaming in the Sarai Amanat Khan area, a team of the local CIA staff followed the trail and managed to locate them at a naka near village Bhusse. When police teams tried to apprehend them, the accused Sukhdev Singh Dev opened fire, said the SSP, while adding that the police retaliated in self-defence resulting in injuries to Sukhdev. The latter was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The SSP said that preliminary investigations have revealed that both the accused were in direct touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and were receiving contraband through drones from Pakistan and were supplying arms and ammunition in border districts. Further investigations are on to unearth their network, the SSP added.