Amritsar: Punjab Police have busted an inter-state arms smuggling module with the arrest of four key operatives, including three residents of Uttarakhand, director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday.
Police also recovered seven sophisticated pistols and eight magazines from them.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Lovepreet Singh, 26, his namesake Lovepreet Singh, 25, and Jashandeep Singh, 25, all from Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, and Harjinder Singh (23) of Lakhan Kalan in Kalanaur, Gurdaspur.
The seized weapons include an Austria-made Glock pistol, four China-made .30-bore pistols, and two standard .30-bore pistols. Police also impounded a silver Maruti Swift car (UK 16 C 0040) used in the operation.
Yadav said preliminary investigations trace the syndicate’s operational command to handlers based abroad. A Dubai-based associate coordinated the supply backward linkages, while a US-based handler directed the gang on where to deliver the cache forward.
Inspector general of police, border range, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said officers acted on specific intelligence that the suspects had retrieved a weapons consignment and were en route to make a handoff.
Police teams, supervised by Gurdaspur SSP Aditya, set up a checkpoint and intercepted the vehicle, apprehending all four occupants.
A case was registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act at Kalanaur police station.
Further investigations are on to map out the complete network and identify additional operatives.