— ARRESTED ACCUSED WERE IN CONTACT WITH FOREIGN-BASED SMUGGLER, RECEIVING ILLEGAL WEAPON CONSIGNMENTS: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— ARRESTED ACCUSED ESMAILKHEL TAWHID WAS OPERATING HAWALA NETWORK UNDER GUISE OF DRY FRUIT BUSINESS: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, June 8:
In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling and hawala network with the arrest of four accused persons including an Afghan national and recovered eight sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
Those arrested have been identified as Esmailkhel Tawhid (30), a resident of Afghanistan, presently residing in Pune, Maharashtra; Mangjit Singh (20) and Shamsher Singh (26), both residents of village Fatehabad in Tarn Taran; and Gurlal Singh (42), a resident of village Rajatal in Amritsar. The recovered pistols include one .30 bore Beretta, four 9MM Glocks and three .30 bore pistols along with seven live cartridges. Police teams also impounded their Activa Scooter.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with a foreign-based smuggler who supplied illegal weapon consignments through concealed drop locations. The recovered arms were reportedly being delivered to criminal elements for further distribution, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case to identify other associates connected with the foreign-based network, and ascertain further recoveries and arrests.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on reliable inputs, police teams apprehended accused Mangjit Singh and Shamsher Singh and recovered three illegal pistols along with seven live cartridges.
Following a comprehensive investigation into the Foreign-based smuggling network, police arrested another accused identified as Gurlal Singh, and during his search, three additional pistols were recovered, he said, while adding that the interrogation of accused Gurlal Singh led to the recovery of two more pistols from a location pinpointed by him.
The CP said that on the basis of disclosures made during the investigation, police also arrested another associate, Esmailkhel Tawhid, who was operating a hawala network under the guise of a dry fruit business and facilitating financial transactions connected to the illegal arms smuggling racket.
He said that investigation has further revealed that arrested accused Mangjit Singh and Shamsher Singh are residents of the same village and were jointly involved in the illegal arms trafficking network. It has also been established that accused Mangjit Singh is a habitual offender and an Arms Act case has previously been registered against him at Police Station Sultanwind in Amritsar.
In this regard, two separate cases— FIR No. 168 dated 04-06-2026 under sections 25 and 25(7) of the Arms Act at Police Station Islamabad and FIR No. 162 dated 05-06-2026 under sections 25, 25(8) and 29 of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima— have been registered.
