Four held with illegal weapons, heroin

The Ludhiana police claimed to have nabbed four criminals and recovered illegal weapons, 268 gm of heroin, and cartridges from them. A Mahindra Thar has also been seized from the woman.

The suspects were identified as Gaurav Singh of Bhagat Singh Colony, Sahip Malik of Janta Nagar, Nikhil Sharma of Fateh Singh Nagar and Sanjana of Shimlapuri. One of their accomplices, Sumit Kumar of New Shimlapuri, is at large in the case and raids are on to nab him.

DCP (Crime) Harpal Singh, ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar, ACP (Crime) Harshpreet Singh and CIA in-charge inspector Kulwant Singh issued a joint statement in this regard.

The police officials said a CIA team had received a tip-off that three suspects were involved in drug smuggling and possessing illegal weapons and cartridges. After verifying their location, the police conducted a raid and nabbed the suspects. They also recovered 268 gm of heroin, four pistols and nine cartridges. A case was also registered.

During the questioning of Gaurav, Sahip and Nikhil, they disclosed the name of Sanjana and Sumit, who were also involved in drug smuggling. Accordingly, their names were also added to the case. Later, Sanjana was also arrested. Now, raids were being conducted at the whereabouts of Sumit but he seemed to have gone underground, they said.

The officials said Gaurav had a criminal background as two cases of attempt to murder was registered against him in the past and in 2024, he had come out on bail and started heroin and weapon smuggling.

Inspector CIA Kulwant Singh said the suspects were not only smuggling drugs but also involved in sale and purchase of weapons. The gang keep illegal weapons with them for their safety while smuggling. They had links with some Bihar-based weapon suppliers and the police would also nab them in the further course of investigation.