— ARRESTED PERSONS WERE IN CONTACT WITH PAKISTAN-BASED SMUGGLERS AND RECEIVING CONSIGNMENTS NEAR INDO-PAK BORDER: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ARE ONGOING TO ESTABLISH FORWARD AND BACKWARD LINKAGES: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, March 15:
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 two separate cross-border arms and drug smuggling modules with the arrest of six accused persons and recovered six sophisticated pistols and 3.5 kg heroin from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.
Those arrested have been identified as Karan Singh (26) of Khemkaran in Tarn Taran, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (22) of Khemkaran in Tarn Taran, Makhandeen alias Makhan (22) of Nag Kalan in Amritsar, Rakesh alias Keshu (26) of Khemkaran in Tarn Taran, Chamkor Singh alias Chamkor (23) of Khemkaran in Tarn Taran and Jasbir Singh alias Beera alias Raghu (19), a resident of village Mullechak in Amritsar.
The recovered weapons include three PX 5.7×28MM TISAS Turkey pistols, two .30 Bore and one 9MM pistol along with 60 live cartridges. Notably, the sophisticated automatic PX 5.7×28 mm TISAS Turkey series pistols recovered in the operation are among the latest weapons and are among the rare recoveries.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed links of arrested persons with Pakistan-based smugglers, who were facilitating the supply of weapons and narcotics near the Indo-Pak border using drones. The accused were operating under a cross-border handler, indicating a larger organised smuggling network, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to dismantle the entire network.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that during patrolling and search, police teams noticed two suspicious youths— identified as Karan Singh and Gurpreet alias Gopi— riding a motorcycle and upon their search, two TISAS Turkey pistols along with magazines and 20 live cartridges were recovered. During further investigations, one more TISAS Turkey pistol and one .30 bore pistol along with ammunition were recovered on their disclosure statement, he said.
He said that both arrested accused belong to villages located near the Indo-Pak international border, which facilitated the smuggling of these weapons across the border. During interrogation, the duo disclosed their supplier and identified him as Makhandeen alias Makhan, who was later arrested with one .30 bore pistol along with magazine and ammunition, he said.
In a similar operation, the CP said that police teams apprehended suspects Rakesh alias Keshu and Chamkor Singh after recovering 200 grams heroin from their possession. An additional 800 grams of heroin was recovered on their disclosure statement, taking the total recovery in the case to 1 kilogram of heroin, he added.
He said that in furtherance of the case, acting on credible secret information, police teams conducted a well-coordinated operation and arrested Jasbir Singh alias Beera alias Raghu after recovering 2.5 Kg heroin from his possession.
In this regard, three separate cases— FIR no. 59 dated 08-03-2026 under section 25(8) of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima, FIR no. 53 dated 10-03-2026 under sections 21-C and 21-B of the NDPS act at Police Station Chheharta and FIR no. 27 dated 08-03-2026 under section 21-C of the NDPS Act at Police Station Verka— have been registered.
