16 pistols, 38 magazines seized in Fazilka, 2 held

The Punjab Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) have seized a large cache of arms and ammunition smuggled from Pakistan through a water route in Fazilka. On Friday, the police seized 16 pistols, 38 magazines and 1,847 cartridges in a joint operation with the BSF, arresting two alleged smugglers from Fazilka district.

According to Fazilka SSP Gurmeet Singh, the sophisticated weapons were smuggled via a wide pipe near the border area of Gatti number 2. Pakistani smugglers reportedly tossed the weapons over submerged barbed wire fencing. The arrested persons, Gurwinder Singh, alias Gindu, of Jhok Dipolana and Sona Singh of Mahatam Nagar village, were caught near Theh Qalandar village on the Fazilka-Ferozepur highway. Sona Singh was tasked with receiving the weapons, but was apprehended, while Gurwinder Singh faces prior criminal charges under stringent laws.

The seizure comes a day after the recovery of 27 pistols and 470 cartridges in this sector on Thursday. That operation triggered a credit dispute between the BSF and the Punjab Police. The BSF’s Punjab Frontier Headquarters claimed the cache was seized jointly with the Intelligence wing of the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Fazilka. However, a subsequent Punjab Police statement by DGP Gaurav Yadav acknowledged only the Counter Intelligence, Ferozepur, and Fazilka SSOC’s role in seizing seven firearms and 470 cartridges, without mentioning the BSF’s contribution.

The BSF hailed the operation as a significant blow to Pakistan’s narco-terrorism activities in the region. The area of Mohar Jamsher village, where the earlier seizure occurred, remains strategically vulnerable due to being surrounded on three sides by Pakistan and bordered by the Sutlej.