Chandigarh, March 19 Six people, including a minor, have been apprehended in connection with a cross-border arms smuggling operation, the Punjab Police said on Thursday.
Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that the Amritsar police arrested Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (27), Manish Kumar alias Jerry (24), Saroop Singh alias Roop (27), Chamkaur Singh (20), and Vansh Sharma (23).
Seven pistols were recovered from them.
Investigation revealed that the accused were in contact with a foreign-based handler operating from Portugal, who was facilitating the smuggling of illegal arms from Pakistan via drones, Yadav said.
The accused would retrieve these consignments and further supply them to criminal elements, he said.
Further investigation is underway to establish the forward and backward linkages in this case to dismantle the entire network, the officer said.
Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said that acting on secret information, police teams conducted an operation and apprehended Gurpreet alias Gopi and one minor. Two 9MM Glock pistols were recovered from their possession.
During further interrogation, more disclosures led to the arrest of their accomplices Manish alias Jerry, Saroop alias Roop, and Chamkaur Singh, and three more 9MM Glock pistols were recovered from their possession, he said.
Subsequently, on the disclosure of accused Chamkaur, Vansh Sharma was also arrested along with two .30 bore pistols, Bhullar said.
Manish alias Jerry was earlier involved in firing at police officials in Batala last year and was absconding in that case, the officer said.
Saroop alias Roop also has a criminal history. He was involved in multiple cases of theft and those registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Bhullar said.