CROSS-BORDER ARMS SMUGGLING NETWORK BUSTED IN AMRITSAR; THREE HELD WITH 8 SOPHISTICATED PISTOLS
— RECOVERED WEAPONS WERE MEANT TO BE SUPPLIED TO CRIMINALS AND GANGSTERS IN PUNJAB: DGP GAURAV YADAV
*— FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ARE ON TO ESTABLISH BACKWARD AND FORWARD LINKAGES*
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 11 (WISHAVWARTA):- In an intelligence led operation amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar has busted a cross-border weapon smuggling module with links to Pakistan with the arrest of its three operatives and recovered eight sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.
Those arrested have been identified as Mahesh alias Ashu Masih and Angrej Singh, both residents of village Marhi Megha in Tarn Taran; and Arshdeep Singh, a resident of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran. The recovered weapons include three 9MM pistols and five .30 bore pistols along with magazines. Apart from this, police team have also impounded their Hero Splendor Motorcycle, being used for transporting the consignments.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested accused persons were acting upon the directions of Pakistan-based arms smuggler, who has been using drones to drop the contrabands from across the border. The arrested accused were supplying the arms and ammunition to criminals and gangsters in Punjab with the intention to fuel criminal activities in the state, he said.
Sharing operation details, he said that CI Amritsar had received a specific intelligence about the retrieval a huge consignment of illegal weapons from Indo-Pak border, which was delivered from across the border with the help of drones in the area of village Marhi Kamboke, PS Khalra, Distt. Tarn Taran. Acting swiftly, police team of CI Amritsar intercepted three suspects near village Bhoose in Amritsar Rural, and recovered the consignment of illegal weapons, which they were going to deliver to the next party in the area near Gharinda in Amritsar, he said.
The DGP said that the arrested accused persons— Mahesh alias Ashu Masih and Angrej Singh— were also wanted in previous cases registered under Arms Act at Police Station SSOC Amritsar, in which 5 pistols were earlier recovered. Further investigation is underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case to expose and dismantle the entire network, he added.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 59 dated 11-10-2025 has been registered under sections 25, 25(1)(a) and 25(1)(b) of the Arms Act and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar.
