— PROBE ONGOING TO ESTABLISH SOURCE AND INTENDED USE OF THE RECOVERED WEAPONS: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— MORE ARRESTS AND RECOVERIES ARE LIKELY IN COMING DAYS, SAYS SSP ASR RURAL KANWALPREET CHAHAL
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, July 14:
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 Rural Police has busted an illegal arms and explosives smuggling module with the arrest of three individuals including one juvenile and recovered one hand grenade and three sophisticated rifles including AK-47 rifle from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Aakashbir Singh alias Kaashi, a resident of Bhaini Rajputtan in Amritsar and Joban Singh, a resident of Balagan in Amritsar and one juvenile. The recovered weapons include one AK-47 rifle, one modified M4-type .30-bore automatic weapon and one specially modified .30-bore semi-automatic weapon along with five magazines.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that further investigation is underway to establish the source and intended use of the recovered weapons, identify associated persons, and uncover the entire network.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said that teams of Police Station Gharinda received secret information that suspects Aakashbir alias Kaashi and Joban Singh along with their juvenile accomplice were procuring ultra-modern weapons, ammunition, grenades, etc. via drones from from across the border. Acting swiftly on this information, police teams conducted a special operation near the Attari area and arrested the trio accused persons after recovering cache of weapons comprising of one grenade and three sophisticated rifles from their possession, he said.
The SSP said that further investigation is ongoing. More arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days, he added.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 303 dated 13.07.2026 has been registered under sections 25, 25(1)(a), 25(6), 25(7) and 25(8) of the Arms Act and sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act at Police Station Gharinda in Amirtsar Rural.
