CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police has busted two separate cross-border illegal arms smuggling modules with the arrest of four operatives, including a juvenile, and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession.
Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said here today that those arrested have been identified as Sikanderjeet Singh (19) of Bhagwanpura village in Tarn Taran, Pradeep Singh alias Babbal (43) of Antarjami Colony in Amritsar, Jarnail Singh (34) of New Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar in Amritsar and one 17-year-old juvenile from Tarn Taran.
The recovered weapons include two Glock pistols, four .30 bore Star pistols and one .32 bore pistol, along with six live cartridges. Apart from recovering the weapons, police teams also seized their motorcycle, which they were allegedly using to deliver the consignment.
Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and retrieved weapon consignments near the international border. “The weapons were meant to fuel gang rivalries and disrupt peace in the region,” he said.
He added that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backward linkages to unearth the entire smuggling network.
Sharing details of the operation, Commissioner of Police of Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said that preliminary investigations revealed accused Sikander along with the juvenile was allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers. They reside close to the vicinity of the international border and retrieved the drone-dropped consignments from the locations provided by the smugglers, he said.
In the other module, Bhullar said that accused Pardeep and Jarnail are alleged associates of deceased Ravneet Singh alias Sonu Mota, who had a rivalry with the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. These weapons are sophisticated pistols received from Pakistani smugglers and were allegedly handed over to them by slain Sonu Mota prior to his death, he said, while adding that the recovery of these weapons averted a major criminal activity in the area.
He said that further investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
In this regard, two separate cases, FIR No. 187 dated 26.07.2025 under Sections 25(7) and 27 of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima, Amritsar, and FIR No. 160 dated 29.07.2025 under Section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station B-Division, Amritsar, have been registered.