Chandigarh, April 14 (IANS) Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of three accused and recovered six sophisticated pistols from their possession, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday.

Those arrested have been identified as Mangal Singh, alias Manga, 30, a resident of Kajikot village in Tarn Taran, Pranav Sharma, alias Laddu, 24, a resident of Orchid Valley in Chheharta in Amritsar, and Gaurav Rana, 25, a resident of Guru Nanak Avenue in Amritsar.

The recovered pistols include two China-made .30 bore, a Zigana .30 bore, and three .30 bore pistols.

DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers through social media platforms. The illegal weapons were being sent through drones from across the border, and the accused used to pick up consignments and supply them to criminal elements, he said.

The DGP said further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages to dismantle this entire network.

Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that in a targeted operation based on a tipoff, police teams arrested Mangal Singh and recovered a .30 bore pistol from his possession. On his disclosure, co-accused Sharma and Rana were arrested, and five additional pistols were recovered from their possession, he said. He said that both Sharma and Rana have a criminal history with cases under the Arms Act registered against them.

Both the accused are also wanted in a case pertaining to committing robbery at gunpoint registered at the Police Station in Ranjit Avenue, he added.

In this regard, a first information report (FIR) was registered on April 4 under sections 25 (6, 7 and 8) of the Arms Act at the Police Station in Cantonment in Amritsar.

–IANS

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