CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police has busted an illegal arms and explosives smuggling module with the arrest of three persons and recovered six hand grenades and 12 sophisticated pistols from their possession.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday that the Counter Intelligence (CI) unit in Amritsar busted the module.
The arrested accused have been identified as Chintu, Jobanpreet Singh and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, all residents of Kakkar village in Amritsar.
The recovered cache includes eight .30 bore pistols, four 9 mm pistols and nine live cartridges. Police also seized a Hyundai i20 car (registration number PB-13-5454) allegedly used to transport the consignments.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were operating on the directions of a foreign-based smuggler backed by Pakistan's ISI and overseas-based operatives of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Yadav said.
He alleged that the accused were planning to carry out activities intended to disturb public peace in various cities across the border state.
Sharing operational details, the DGP said CI Amritsar had received specific intelligence that the three accused had recently received a large consignment of explosives, arms and ammunition from the Ajnala area on the instructions of their handlers.
They were allegedly on their way to deliver the consignment to associates near the underpass on the Bharatmala Bypass Highway on the Amritsar-Chogawan Road.
Acting on the inputs, police teams set up a naka in the area and intercepted the i20 car carrying the three accused. During the search, six hand grenades and 12 pistols were recovered.
Yadav said the investigation is underway to establish both forward and backward linkages and to uncover the entire network behind the smuggling module.
A case has been registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act, Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the State Special Operation Cell police station in Amritsar.