Gurdaspur, Sep 13: Punjab Police foiled a cross-border arms smuggling module with the arrest of five individuals after a hot chase in Gurdaspur and recovered six pistols from their possession, a top police officer said on Sunday.
The arrested have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, Karan Kumar, Balraj Singh, Amrik Singh and Manjinder Singh.
Apart from recovering weapons, police also impounded their SUV, DGP Gaurav Yadav said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the consignment of weapons and ammunition was smuggled from across the border through drones.
Further investigation is underway to uncover the network's backward and forward linkages to identify other persons involved in the cross-border arms smuggling module, he said.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gurdaspur, Aditya said that based on reliable inputs, police personnel of Special Branch Gurdaspur, Police Station Dorangla, and Police Station Behrampur spotted an SUV parked at the intersection of village Nurpur Theh, where two individuals were outside the vehicle, while three were sitting inside.
On seeing the police, the driver swiftly sped away in the vehicle, he said, adding that the police promptly intercepted and apprehended the two individuals present at the spot.
The SSP said the police gave a hot chase to the SUV and successfully intercepted it, leading to the arrest of gangster Balraj Singh alias Buri Basantkotia, along with his two associates.
A total of six pistols along with magazines and 49 live cartridges were recovered from the accused persons, he said.
Balraj is a notorious criminal and has a criminal history involving 26 FIRs pertaining to murder, attempt to murder, Arms Act and NDPS Act offences registered against him, the official added.
