CHANDIGARH: Punjab police have busted an interstate arms smuggling network that supplied weapons directly at the doorstep through individuals disguised as parcel delivery employees.
They also seized 15 illegal pistols, which were brought from Madhya Pradesh and 30 live cartridges. Four youngsters have been arrested in the case.
Sources said that the gang allegedly sourced arms at cheap rates from Madhya Pradesh and sold them at high prices to gangsters in Punjab. Moreover, they were in direct contact with jailed gangster Sonu Khatri and were planning a major operation in the State.
The seized weapons were supposedly meant for members of Sonu Khatri’s gang, which faces multiple cases, including murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, kidnapping and robbery.
All four accused are college dropouts and allegedly entered the arms trade to make quick money. The arrested have been identified as Vishal (20) of Garhdiwala, Hoshiarpur; Subhash of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Jinder alias Sagar (21 of Talla, Hoshiarpur; and Badal (20) of Bhargav Camp in Jalandhar.
A team led by SP Vaibhav Choudhary and Patiala CIA in-charge Pardeep Singh Bajwa arrested the accused from Basantpura, near the national highway in Rajpura.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Patiala, Varun Sharma, alleged that the accused wore Flipkart and other delivery companies' uniforms to avoid suspicion.
"They packed weapons in delivery cartons and old boxes to make them look like genuine parcels. Interrogation remains vital to ascertain the details. We are enquiring about the modus operandi and possible targets,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar has busted a cross-border narcotics smuggling module with the arrest of two operatives and recovered 30 kg of heroin from their possession.
Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, said the miscreants are identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar in Amritsar and Gagandeep Singh of Bhalla Colony in Amritsar.
Apart from recovering the heroin haul, the police team has also impounded a Hero Deluxe motorcycle bearing registration number PB02-DU-3533, used for transporting the consignment.
Pertinently, this is the third major narcotics smuggling module busted by the CI Amritsar since July 6, summing up the total heroin recovery to 68 kg in just 10 days. Earlier, on July 6, CI Amritsar had arrested three individuals after recovering 13 kg of heroin from their possession, and on July 7, three more individuals were arrested with 25 kg of heroin.
Yadav said that a preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were operating on the directions of a foreign-based handler linked to cross-border smugglers.
"They were involved in collecting heroin consignments from different locations and delivering them to other parties across the State,’’ he said.
Sharing details, he said that police teams of CI Amritsar had found that the accused had recently retrieved a huge consignment of heroin and were expected to deliver it to the other party near the Gaunsabad area of Police Station Kambo in Amritsar.
"Acting swiftly, police teams laid Nakas and apprehended them after intercepting their motorcycle near Gaunsabad in Amritsar and recovered 30 kg of heroin from their possession," he added.
Yadav said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to uncover the entire supply chain.
In this regard, a case has been registered under sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station State Special Operations Cell, Amritsar.
Earlier, on July 6, CI Amritsar had arrested three individuals after recovering 13 kg of heroin from their possession, and on July 7, three more individuals were arrested with 25 kg of heroin.
Yadav said that a preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were operating on the directions of a foreign-based handler linked to cross-border smugglers.
"They were involved in collecting heroin consignments from different locations and delivering them to other parties across the State,’’ he said.
Sharing details, he said that police teams of CI Amritsar had found that the accused had recently retrieved a huge consignment of heroin and were expected to deliver it to the other party near the Gaunsabad area of Police Station Kambo in Amritsar.
"Acting swiftly, police teams laid Nakas and apprehended them after intercepting their motorcycle near Gaunsabad in Amritsar and recovered 30 kg of heroin from their possession," he added.
Yadav said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to uncover the entire supply chain.
In this regard, a case has been registered under sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station State Special Operations Cell, Amritsar.