Amritsar police bust cross-border arms smuggling network

By Bharat Sharma

The police have arrested 11 people, including two juveniles, and seized 12 Pakistani-made pistols, two live hand grenades, 33 cartridges, 310.10 gm heroin and a stolen motorcycle during two operations against an alleged cross-border arms and drug smuggling network in Amritsar.

Police Commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill said the operations were conducted in Ranjit Avenue, Sultanwind and Chheharta areas on the basis of specific intelligence inputs. The operations were jointly led by DCP (Investigation) Prabhjot Singh, DCP (City) Jaskiran Teja, ADCP Vishaljit Singh and ADCP Jayant, along with the Detective Wing and teams from concerned police stations.

Gill said this was the seventh major arms seizure by the Amritsar Police Commissionerate in the past two months. Preliminary investigations suggested that the seized weapons had been dropped inside Indian territory from Pakistan using drones.

The police said the two hand grenades were new and of high capacity. Investigators suspect that the explosives were intended to target sensitive locations or specific individuals.

According to Gill, the arrested accused are aged between 18 and 24 years, with six having previous criminal cases registered against them, including attempt to murder, robbery and violations of the Arms Act. Some were also wanted in other cases.

Those identified by the police include Boby, Satnam Singh, Harpreet, Akashdeep, another Akashdeep alias Akash, Vishal Singh and Gurpreet Singh alias Billa. The police said most of the accused were engaged in daily-wage labour or painting work and were allegedly lured into the illegal network.

Investigations have revealed alleged links between the network, gangster Happy Jatt, a resident of Jandiala, and Dubai-based alleged heroin smuggler Karan. According to the police, Karan arranged weapons and narcotics from Pakistan through drones, while local operatives allegedly handled their storage and distribution on the directions of Happy Jatt.

Gill said the police had identified potential targets of the alleged network but were withholding their names due to security concerns and the ongoing investigation. Efforts are underway to establish backward and forward linkages and identify other people involved.

Cracker Sale Warning Ahead of Diwali

Separately, Gill warned against the illegal storage and sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali. He said authorised vendors would be allowed to sell firecrackers at designated locations from November 5 to 9.

The police will conduct surprise inspections across the city, and strict legal action will be taken against those found storing large quantities of potash, explosives or illegal firecrackers without authorisation. He also urged residents to follow safety guidelines and report suspicious activities to the police.