Arms Smuggling Racket Busted in Amritsar: 9 Held, 13 Pistols Seized
Amritsar (The Uttam Hindu): The Amritsar Commissionerate Police in Punjab has busted three separate cross-border illegal arms smuggling modules, arresting nine operatives, including a juvenile, and recovering 13 sophisticated pistols from their possession.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Friday said that the police have identified the arrested persons as Sikanderjit Singh (19) of village Bhagwanpura, Tarn Taran, Pradeep Singh alias Babbal (43) of Antarjami Colony, Amritsar, Jarnail Singh (34) of New Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Amritsar; and a 17-year-old juvenile from Tarn Taran. The arrested operatives of another module have been identified as Jagroop Singh resident of Dhoon, Tarn Taran, Navdeep Singh resident of Patti Lahian Di, Sur Singh, Tarn Taran, Arshdeep Singh resident of Shaliwal, Amritsar, Gurlal Singh resident of Rajoke, Tarn Taran and Joban Singh resident of Patti Mana Ki, Sur Singh, Tarn Taran.
The recovered weapons include 13 pistols along with 14 cartridges. Apart from the recovery of weapons, the police teams have also recovered their motorcycle, which they were using to transport the consignment.
Mr. Yadav said that preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and used to transport consignments of weapons from near the international border. He said that these weapons were meant to increase enmity between gangs and disrupt peace in the area.
The DGP said investigation is underway to trace the forward and backward links to unearth the entire smuggling network. Sharing details of the operation, Amritsar Commissioner of Police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said preliminary investigations revealed that accused Sikander was in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers along with a minor. He said their house is near the international border and the drone-dropped consignment was recovered from the locations mentioned by them.
In the second module, the Police Commissioner said that the accused Pradeep and Jarnail were associates of deceased Ravneet Singh alias Sonu Mota, who had enmity with the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. He said that these weapons are sophisticated pistols obtained from smugglers in Pakistan and were handed over to them by deceased Sonu Mota before his death. He said that with the recovery of these weapons, major criminal activities in the area could be averted. He said that further investigation is going on and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
In this regard, two separate cases – FIR No. 187 dated 26.07.2025 under Section 25(7) & 27 of Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima, Amritsar and FIR No. 187 dated 26.07.2025 under Section 25 of Arms Act at Police Station B-Division, Amritsar have been registered. Giving details about the third module, Bhullar said that in a major intelligence operation, Counter Intelligence – Amritsar arrested five operatives working on the instructions of a Pakistan-based smuggler and recovered six pistols and eight cartridges. The arrested accused had recovered the consignment from near the Indo-Pak border and were stopped near Panjwar bus stop while awaiting delivery to gangsters in Punjab. An FIR has been registered in this regard at SSOC, Amritsar. Further investigation is underway to unravel the entire network and its links.