CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, July 17:
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 illegal arms smuggling module with links to Pakistan and arrested one of its operative after recovering 10 .30 bore sophisticated pistols along with magazines from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
The arrested person has been identified as Harjinder Singh, a resident of village Dall in Tarn Taran. The latter is a notorious narcotics smuggler with two cases pertaining to NDPS act registered against him, and recently bailed-out from Jail.
The development came a fortnight after CI Amritsar had busted a similar cross-border narcotics and illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of its three operatives— Sarabjit Singh and Kulwinder Singh, both residents of Ferozepur, and Ashmandeep Singh of Tarn Taran— and recovered eight sophisticated weapons, 1 kg heroin and Rs 2.9 lakh drug money from their possession.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused has been working in collusion with Pak-based smuggler, who has been using drones to drop weapon consignments from across the border. The arrested accused was further distributing the arms to criminals and gangsters across Punjab with intention to fuel criminal activities in the state, he said.
Sharing operation details, the DGP said that teams of CI Amritsar received specific intelligence about retrieval of weapons consignments from the Indo-Pak border area falling near the village Dall in Tarn Taran. Acting swiftly, police teams have intercepted the suspect Harjinder Singh from near Bohru Pul at Amritsar-Jhabal road, when he was going to deliver the consignment to some party, and recovered illegal weapons from his possession, he said.
Further investigations are underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case and identify the person, who was supposed to receive the consignment.
A case FIR No. 39 dated 17-07-2025 has been registered under sections 25, 25(1)(A) and 25(1)(B) of the Arms Act and section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar.
