Chandigarh/Amritsar, October 7
In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has dismantled three illegal arms supply networks with the arrest of eight individuals including one juvenile and recovered 15 illegal sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Satnam Singh alias Sukha (20), a resident of village Pato Hira Singh in Moga; Bhalla Singh (26), a resident of village Manoke Gill in Moga; Gautam Singh alias Billa (23), a resident of village Ahmadpura in Tarn Taran; Manvir Singh alias Gurvir Singh (24), a resident of Vishal Nagar in Ludhiana; Jaskarandeep Singh alias Jassa (23), a resident of village Bhuchar Kalan in Tarn Taran; Simranjit Sandhu alias Billa (27), a resident of Nive Tung in Amritsar; Abhi alias Bawa (25), a resident of Vadda Haripura in Amritsar and one 17-years-old juvenile.
The recovered weapons include three .30 bore Beretta (Made in Italy), one .30 bore PX-5 Storm, one .30 bore (Made in China), eight .30 bore and two .32 bore pistols along with 15 live cartridges. Apart from recovering weapons, police teams have also impounded their two cars being used from criminal activities.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly linked to foreign-based arms smugglers and were procuring illegal weapons for further distribution to criminal elements in the region. Investigation has also revealed links of the accused with other associates involved in the illegal arms supply network, he said.
The DGP said that further investigation is underway to uncover the complete backward and forward linkages in this case to identify other persons involved.
Sharing details of first operation, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Harmanbir Singh Gill said that acting on specific information and following a systematic investigation, police teams arrested Satnam alias Sukha and Bhalla Singh, when they were travelling in their car, and recovered five pistols along with five live cartridges from their possession.
In another operation, he said that police arrested Gautam alias Billa, Manvir alias Gurvir Singh and Jaskarandeep alias Jassa and recovered seven illegal pistols along with 10 live cartridges, besides, impounding their car.
In third operation, the CP said that acting on specific information, police teams arrested Simranjit alias Billa, following which his associates Abhi alias Bawa and one juvenile were also apprehended. A total of three pistols were recovered during the investigation, he added. He said that probe has revealed that the accused were allegedly procuring illegal firearms from a common source and subsequently supplying the weapons at different locations.