DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted a cross-border arms smuggling module and apprehended an operative working under the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler.

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, in a post on X, said the accused had retrieved a weapon consignment from near the India-Pakistan border and was en route to deliver it when a police team intercepted him.

In a statement issued later, Yadav said the man was identified as Bharatpreet Singh from Marhi Megha village in Tarn Taran. Police teams recovered five sophisticated pistols from his possession and impounded his motorcycle, which was used for transporting the consignments.

Yadav said preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused, along with his two associates, was acting upon the directions of the Pakistan-based smuggler, who has been using drones to drop weapon consignments from across the border.

The arrested accused was further supplying arms to criminals and gangsters in Punjab to fuel criminal activities in the state, he said.

Sharing operation details, the DGP said teams of the counter-intelligence wing in Amritsar received specific intelligence about the retrieval of weapons consignments from the India-Pakistan border area near Daliri village in Tarn Taran.

Acting swiftly, police teams intercepted Bharatpreet Singh from Mulechak road in Amritsar, when he was going to deliver the consignment to a party, and recovered illegal weapons from his possession, he added.

An FIR has been registered at the State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar, he said. Further investigation is underway to expose the entire network and its linkages, he added.

(editor@dailyworld.in)