Arms smuggling racket busted, one arrested with four pistols

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 16

State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Mohali, has apprehended one person for running an inter-state organised arms smuggling racket and recovered four .32 bore pistols from his possession.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the arrested accused has been identified as Vinod Kumar alias Rahul, a resident of Giaspura in Ludhiana. The latter has a criminal background with cases pertaining to theft and snatching registered against him.

The SSOC Amritsar had received information that the accused Vinod, who was involved in supplying of illegal arms and ammunition from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab, was going to Kharar from Ludhiana to deliver a weapon consignment to criminal elements.

Acting swiftly, the police team from SSOC laid a trap and successfully apprehended the accused near a toll plaza in Gharuan, Kharar, and recovered two .32 bore pistols from his possession, he said. Further investigation had resulted in recovery of two more .32 bore pistols from the location revealed by the accused.

Apart from supplying illegal arms in Punjab, the accused was also providing logistical assistance to various gangs. Further investigations are on to establish backward and forward linkages to uncover the entire network, he added.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused, while being in Ludhiana Jail came in contact with gangsters sitting inside and outside jail, and now he was working for them to retrieve the weapon consignment from Madhya Pradesh and deliver them to various gangs operational in the state.

The arrested accused also disclosed that he had smuggled two heavy illegal arms consignments, which he retrieved from Jasondi, Burhanpur villages in Madhya Pradesh and delivered these in Mohali in last one month.

A case under Section 25 of the Arms act and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at SSOC police station, SAS Nagar, on August 13.