— ARRESTED ACCUSED WERE IN CONTACT WITH FOREIGN-BASED SMUGGLERS: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— PROBE UNDERWAY TO UNCOVER COMPLETE FORWARD & BACKWARD SUPPLY CHAINS: CP ASR HARMANBIR GILL
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 19:
In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has dismantled a drug trafficking and illegal arms smuggling network with the arrest of three individuals and recovered 10 pistols and 1.022 kg heroin from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
Those arrested have been identified as Gautam alias Ajay (28), a bouncer by profession and resident of Village Sensra Khurd; Ravi Sher Singh (22), a resident of Village Guru Ka Bagh; and Rajbir Singh alias Raja (24), a resident of village Basarke Bhaini and currently residing at Pal Avenue, all in Amritsar Rural. The recovered pistols includes— three 9MM Glocks and seven .30 bore pistols. Police teams have also recoverd a motorcycle used in smuggling activities.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were in contact with foreign-based smugglers who allegedly supplied illegal weapons to further distribute them to criminal elements. Further investigation is underway to trace backward and forward linkages and identify other persons involved in the network, he said.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Harmanbir Singh Gill said that acting on actionable intelligence, police teams initially arrested Gautam alias Ajay and Ravi Sher Singh from the jurisdiction of Police Station Cantonment area, recovering two Glock pistols and a motorcycle from their possession. During sustained questioning, on the disclosure of accused Gautam, police recovered seven additional pistols, he said.
He said that following up on subsequent leads, police teams arrested their third accomplice identified as Rajbir Singh alias Raja, and recovered one more .30 bore pistol along with 1.022 kg of heroin from his possession, taking the total seizure of firearms to 10 pistols.
The CP said that both Gautam and Rajbir have criminal backgrounds, with Gautam facing two previous cases under the Arms Act and NDPS Act, while Rajbir has been facing five cases under NDPS Act.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 193 dated 13.10.2026 under sections 25(6), 25(7), and 25(8) of the Arms act and sections 21 (C) and 29 of the NDPS act has been registered at Police Station Cantonment in Amritsar.
