— RECOVERED NARCOTICS AND WEAPON CONSIGNMENTS WERE TO BE FURTHER DISTRIBUTED TO CRIMINAL ELEMENTS: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ONGOING; MORE ARRESTS AND RECOVERIES ARE LIKELY IN COMING DAYS: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, July 18:
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 a cross-border drug and illegal arms smuggling network with the arrest of four individuals, and recovered 5.557 kg heroin and two sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.
Those arrested have been identified as Akash Sandhu (30), a resident of Rambagh in Amritsar; Sunil Saroj (40), a resident of Khai Mohalla in Amritsar; Harwinder Singh alias Chamkaur (32) and Vansh Singh (40), both residents of village Chhidan in Amritsar. Accused Akash Sandhu, Sunil Saroj and Harwinder alias Chamkaur are habitual offenders with previous cases under the NDPS Act and Arms Act already registered against them.
The recovered pistols include one 9MM Glock and one .30 bore. Apart from this, a police team has also impounded their motorcycle.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in contact with foreign-based smugglers, and received narcotics and weapon consignments for further distribution to criminal elements in the region. Further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to identify all associates involved, he added.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on reliable intelligence, police teams first arrested accused Akash Sandhu and recovered 192 grams heroin from his possession, while, an additional 776 grams heroin was recovered based on his disclosure statement.
During investigation, accused Akash Sandhu disclosed that he had procured the heroin from accused Sunil Saroj, he said, while adding that acting swiftly on the information, police teams arrested accused Sunil Saroj and recovered 4.589 kg heroin from his possession.
The CP said that continuing the investigation, police teams arrested two more accused, Harwinder Singh alias Chamkaur and Vansh Singh and recovered two sophisticated pistols from their possession.
He said that arrested accused Harwinder alias Chamkaur was also wanted in a commercial quantity heroin case registered at Police Station Chheharta. Probe has also revealed that arrested accused Harwinder alias Chamkaur and Vansh Singh are residents of the same village situated in close proximity to the International Border, indicating their strategic role in facilitating cross-border narco and arms smuggling activities.
In this regard, two separate cases— FIR No. 200 dated 04.07.2026 under sections 21-B, 21-C and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Islamabad and FIR No. 154 dated 08.07.2026 under sections 25(6,7,8) of the Arms Act at Police Station Chheharta— have been registered.
