DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Police on Tuesday busted another interstate weapon smuggling network with the arrest of three persons, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said here.

State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) of Punjab Police arrested three arm smugglers in Amritsar and recovered three .32 bore pistols from their possession, the DGP said.

The arrest came a day after the police busted an interstate weapon smuggling module with the arrest of two operatives of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa in Amritsar. Six pistols were also recovered from the accused, DGP Yadav had said on

Monday.

Those arrested on Tuesday have been identified as Sukhdev Singh alias Mattu and Sahil Kumar alias Mast -- both residents of Chhota Haripura in Amritsar -- and Prabhjot Singh alias Prabh of Guru Nanak Pura in Amritsar.

Apart from three pistols, the police also recovered three magazines and six live cartridges from the possession of the accused, Yadav said.

DGP Yadav said that the police had received information that some persons from Amritsar were involved in interstate weapon smuggling. They had procured a consignment of weapons from illegal dealers in Madhya Pradesh to deliver it to some criminal elements in the Guru Tegh Bahadur Market area in Vallah.

Acting swiftly on these inputs, the police launched an operation and apprehended the accused persons when they were waiting in Vallah area to deliver the consignment and recovered three pistols from their possession, he said.

According to Yadav, preliminary investigations have revealed that two of the arrested accused -- Sukhdev and Sahil -- have a criminal history, including involvement in a murder case.

Assistant Inspector General Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said investigations are on to identify the weapon dealer in Madhya Pradesh and persons to whom the weapon consignment was to be delivered.
(editor@dailyworld.in)