— ARRESTED ACCUSED WAS ACTING ON THE DIRECTIONS OF AN AUSTRALIA-BASED ASSOCIATE, SAYS DGP GAURAV YADAV
— ARRESTED ACCUSED WAS OPERATING AS A LOCAL LINK TO DELIVER THIS CONSIGNMENT TO FURTHER RECIPIENTS: AIG SSOC ASR SUKHMINDER MANN
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, June 19:
In a major breakthrough against cross-border arms smuggling, Border Security Force (BSF) Punjab in a joint operation with Punjab Police has arrested one individual and recovered 26 sophisticated firearms including one AK-47 rifle and 25 pistols from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Friday.
Pertinently, Punjab Police has intensified its drive against terror activities and is working tirelessly to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The operation was conducted by State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar.
The accused, identified as Rohan Khosla, a resident of Roopnagar colony in Amritsar, was arrested from near the Indo-Pak International Border. The recovered pistols include 14 9MM and 11 .30 bore pistols of Norinco Star Mark, Glock, Zigana, Taurus, Walther, etc along with 368 live cartridges and 48 magazines.
Apart from recovering huge cache of arms and ammunition, police team has also recovered one USA made bullet-proof vest and impounded his Hyundai i20, car bearing registration No. PB02EJ2347, which he was using to smuggle the weapons.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused was acting on the directions of an Australia-based associate, who allegedly shared the weapon drop location through social media application.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to identify all associates involved, dismantle the entire terror network, and uncover the complete cross-border arms trafficking network.
Sharing operational details, AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said that acting swiftly on an input received from the BSF about retrieval of drone-dropped weapon consignment in the area of Border Outpost (BOP) Shahpur, the team of SSOC Amritsar along with BSF team apprehended suspect Rohan Khosla, who was driving Hyundai i20. During the search of the car, 25 sophisticated pistols and one AK-47 rifle along live cartridges and magazines, and 01 USA made bullet-proof vest was recovered, he said.
The AIG said that it was also learnt that arrested accused was operating as a local link to deliver this consignment to further recipients as per the instructions of his Australia-based associate. Further investigation is ongoing, he added.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 39 dated 19.06.2026 under section 25 of the Arms Act, sections 111 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam has been registered at Police Station SSOC Amritsar.
