Cross-border arms smuggling racket busted in Amritsar, 6 people arrested

Amritsar city police busted yet another module of cross-border arms smuggling, arresting six associates of a foreign-origin smuggler in two separate cases and seizing 10 pistols, including three advanced Austrian-made 9mm Glock pistols smuggled from Pakistan.

Those arrested were: Vinod Kumar alias Rangeela of Putlighar, Yuvraj Singh and Surkhap Singh of Roriwala border village, Jugraj Singh alias Jaggu of Plah Sahib road area, Amritpal Singh alias Sherpur village in Batala and Harman alias Prabhdeep Singh. Mumrai village in Batala.

Karanbir, the mastermind of Meerakot, was yet to be arrested. He has two NDPS and arms smuggling cases registered against him. Police also identified two Gurdaspur residents who were part of the network. Operations were continuing to capture these people.

Amritpal, an agriculturist, recently contested the panchayat elections. It has been active for the last two months after coming into contact with an administrator of foreign origin. Vinod Kumar was recently out on bail. There were approximately 19 cases pending against him.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation showed that they were in touch with a foreign origin smuggler who was shipping arms to India through drones and other means. An investigation is ongoing to determine their forward and reverse links, the official added.

Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that they have reliable information that Amritpal was smuggling arms from Pakistan. He said CIA-Amritsar has been alerted. The accused was arrested along with Prabhdeep from Batala road area in Amritsar. Following the statement, police teams seized five .32-caliber pistols, two 9 mm Glock pistols and six cartridges near the Verka bypass.

In another operation, police teams arrested Jugraj Singh and his three accomplices near Khalsa College. Following the statement, police seized a Glock pistol and two .32 caliber pistols, along with four cartridges, from near Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar. Investigations are continuing and more arrests and seizures are expected in the coming days, the official added.