Chandigarh: In an intelligence-led operation, Amritsar Commissionerate Police have busted a cross-border organised arms smuggling module with the arrest of its six members and recovered six sophisticated weapons and Rs 5.75 lakh hawala money from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Pargat Singh, Ajaybir Singh, Karanbir Singh Shri Ram, Mehakpreet Singh and Dinesh Kumar.
The recovered weapons include one 9MM Glock, three .30 bore PX5 pistols, one .32 bore and one .30 bore pistol.
DGP Yadav said the syndicate was being operated by the arrested accused Mehakpreet Singh, alias Rohit, under the directions of his foreign-based handlers via social media.
During the operation, multiple recoveries were made at different stages of investigation, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backwards linkages in this case. More arrests and recoveries are expected in the coming days, he added.
Sharing operation details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the accused, Pargat Singh, was initially arrested with two weapons, which were part of cross-border consignments and meant to be distributed further through the network.
Further, during the course of the investigation, other members of the module — Ajaybir, Karanbir and Shri Ram — were arrested along with one pistol, he said, while adding that the kingpin of the module, identified as Mehakpreet, was arrested from Goa. Three weapons were recovered from Mehakpreet’s possession.
The Commissioner of Police said that the probe has found that the money from the arms smuggling trade was routed through a hawala network in which the accused Dinesh was arrested, along with Rs 5.75 lakh hawala money.
In this regard, a first information report (FIR) was registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima in Amritsar. Further investigation was under, said the police.
IANS