AMRITSAR: Amritsar Rural Police have busted illegal arms and drug trafficking networks in a joint operation with a Central Agency, arresting seven accused and recovering a rocket-propelled grenade, Punjab Police announced on Tuesday (November 10). Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav's official account published the seizure details, and The Daily Jagran independently reported the same operation the same day.
Source: DGP Punjab / Punjab Police
The recoveries are one RPG (22 NETTO), two illegal pistols, 106 live cartridges, 7.904 kg of heroin, 5.152 kg of opium and 2.344 kg of ICE (methamphetamine). Police also seized one drone, one GPS tracker and five mobile phones during the operation.
Foreign-based handlers alleged; FIRs at three police stations
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were allegedly in contact with foreign-based handlers who facilitated the supply of illegal weapons and narcotics for further distribution among criminal elements, according to Punjab Police. These are police allegations at the preliminary-investigation stage and have not been tested in court.
Source: The Daily Jagran
Separate FIRs have been registered at Gharinda, Lopoke and Bhindi Saida police stations in Amritsar district. Investigators are working to establish the backward and forward linkages of the network and to identify other people involved, police said. Amritsar Rural Police officers also addressed a press conference on the seizure.
Separate Mohali operation: four held in drone-drop heroin racket
In a separate operation reported on Tuesday, Mohali Police arrested four men from Ferozepur district who were allegedly receiving heroin consignments dropped by drones from across the international border. The arrests were made on November 7 after police received information about the suspects while patrolling in the Kharar area. The accused have been identified as Manpreet Singh (23), Sunil alias Sunny (26), Gurpreet Singh alias Guri (24) and Sukhchain Singh alias Sukha (23).
Police recovered five modern pistols, 100 grams of heroin and Rs 1 lakh in suspected drug money from the Mohali accused, and seized a Hyundai Creta. A case has been registered at Kharar under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act, and the four have been remanded to police custody for four days. Police said the accused were allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based handlers and supplied drugs in Mohali, Chandigarh and other parts of the Tricity, and that none of them had previous criminal cases registered against them. These, too, are police allegations that have not been tested in court.
Latest in a series of border-belt busts
The RPG recovery is the latest in a rapid series of major seizures in the Amritsar border belt this month, as police step up operations against drone-based cross-border smuggling.
On November 5, Amritsar Rural Police arrested 16 people and recovered two Uzi sub-machine guns, five pistols, two hand grenades and 34 kg of heroin in a separate operation. Read the November 5 Uzi and 34 kg heroin bust
On November 6, Counter Intelligence Amritsar seized 36 kg of heroin and arrested four people, including a juvenile, near the Amritsar-Lopoke Road. Read the November 6 Counter Intelligence seizure
Further investigation is underway in both the Amritsar Rural and Mohali cases, police said.