— ACCUSED WERE PROCURING ILLEGAL WEAPONS FOR FURTHER DISTRIBUTION AND USE IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ARE ONGOING, SAYS CP ASR HARMANBIR GILL
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, September 22:
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 dismantled six illegal arms supply networks with the arrest of eight individuals and recovered 13 illegal pistols along with 23 live cartridges from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Gurdeep Singh alias Deep (24) and Dharminder Singh alias Bhinda (34), both residents of village Rangarh in Amritsar Rural; Amit (23), a resident of Guru Ki Wadali in Amritsar; Harpreet Singh alias Happy Niana (26), a resident of Narayangarh in Amritsar; Chamkaur Singh (30), a resident of village Waan Tara Singh in Tarn Taran; Karanpreet Singh (22), a resident of village Noordi in Tarn Taran; Gaurav (26), a resident of Katra Karam Singh in Amritsar; and Varun Kumar alias Vicky Gill (33), a resident of Bhai Manj Singh Road in Amritsar.
The recovered pistols include two .30 bore Zigana (Made in Turkey), two .30 Bore (Made in China), one 9MM and eight .30 bore pistols. Apart from recovering pistols, police teams have also impounded their Activa scooter being used for smuggling activities.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that arrested accused were allegedly linked to foreign-based smugglers and were procuring illegal weapons for further distribution and use in criminal activities. Police have also established links between the accused and other associates involved in the illegal arms supply network, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to uncover the complete backward and forward linkages in this case to identify other persons involved and dismantle the wider illegal arms trafficking network.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Harmanbir Singh Gill said that police teams arrested Gurdeep Singh alias Deep and Dharminder Singh alias Bhinda, recovering two pistols and seven live cartridges from his possession.
In three separate operations, he said that police teams arrested accused persons Amit, Harpreet alias Happy and Chamkaur Singh and recovered three pistols along with live cartridges from each of their possessions.
In another operation, the CP said that the police team during a routine naka checking, apprehended Karanpreet Singh and recovered one pistol along with six live cartridges from his possession. The police team also arrested Varun Kumar alias Vicky Gill and Gaurav and recovered one pistol along with four live cartridges from their possession, he said.
In this regard, six separate cases— FIR no. 213 dated 15.09.2026, FIR no. 215 dated 16.09.2026 and FIR no. 219 dated 19.09.2026 have been registered under section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Chheharta; FIR no. 247 dated 23.08.2026 under section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima; FIR No. 205 dated 21.09.2026 under sections 25(8) of the Arms Act at Police Station Sultanwind and FIR no. 164 dated 21.09.2026 under section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station D-Division in Amritsar— have been registered.
