Chandigarh: An Army soldier was among seven persons arrested by the Amritsar Rural Police with sophisticated pistols and heroin brought in from across the border.
The police busted four separate illegal arms and narcotics supply networks and recovered 14 sophisticated pistols and 20.130 kg of heroin from their possession, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Uday (19) and Patras (19); the soldier has been identified as Yudhvir Singh (22); Sajan Singh (19) and Sahilpreet (20); Jarmanjot Singh (20); and Sahibnoor Singh (21), an official statement said, as reported by PTI.
The police said that a report regarding Yudhvir’s involvement in “cross-border smuggling” is being sent to senior Army authorities.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with a foreign-based handler, who was facilitating illegal arms consignments for further distribution among criminal elements through an organised network, DGP Yadav said.
He said that further investigation is underway to uncover the complete network and establish backwards and forward linkages.
In the first operation, acting on specific inputs, teams from Gharinda police station intercepted Uday and Patras when they were going towards Khemkaran after retrieving a drone-dropped consignment of 10 pistols, including one 9 mm and nine .30 bore pistols, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, IGP (Border Range) said while sharing details of the operation.
The duo had previously retrieved and supplied at least 20-25 consignments of weapons, investigation has revealed, he said.
In the second operation, a joint team of the Crime Investigation Agency, Amritsar Rural and SHO Gharinda apprehended an Army soldier identified as Yudhvir Singh, who had come home on leave, and recovered a .30 bore pistol from his possession, Bhullar said.
Singh had earlier been arrested in an Arms Act case, the IG said, adding that a detailed report regarding his “involvement in cross-border smuggling is being sent to senior Army authorities”.
Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal, SSP, Amritsar Rural, shared details of the third operation and said that acting on reliable inputs, Gharinda police station teams intercepted Sajan Singh and Sahilpreet, and recovered a massive haul of 20.130 kg of heroin from their possession.
In the fourth operation, a joint team led by incharge special cell Amritsar rural and SHO Kathu Nangal apprehended Jarmanjot Singh and Sahibnoor Singh, and recovered two pistols from their possession, the SSP said.
