Rajpura (Patiala district): Patiala Police said a joint team of the CIA Staff Rajpura and the City Rajpura police station has busted an illegal arms-smuggling module, arresting three accused and recovering nine illegal .32-bore pistols, 10 live cartridges and 16 magazines from their possession. Police also seized a white Hyundai Verna car allegedly used by the accused.
Source: Punjab Newsline
Police identified the arrested accused as Jaswinder Singh alias Gora, a resident of Koir Singh Wala village under Bhagta Bhai police station in Bathinda district; Lakhbir Singh alias Laddi, a resident of Pur village under Kheri Gandian police station in Patiala district; and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, a resident of Amir Colony in Rajpura. All three are accused — they have been arrested, not convicted — and are being questioned on police remand.
Source: Punjab Newsline
SP (D) Rajesh Chhibber said the preliminary investigation revealed that the weapons had been brought from Madhya Pradesh. According to police, four of the nine recovered pistols were allegedly intended to be supplied to the Bambiha gang, and police further claimed the arrests had foiled a conspiracy to murder two people. Both points are police claims at this stage, not findings established in court.
Source: Punjab Newsline
Punjabi reports of the same disclosure, shared by DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav, carried the same recovery figures — nine pistols, 10 live cartridges and 16 magazines — and said the weapons were allegedly sourced from Madhya Pradesh, with further investigation under way into the network's forward and backward linkages.
Source: Charhdi Kala
What happens next: police said the remand questioning is aimed at identifying the suppliers in Madhya Pradesh from whom the weapons were bought and the intended recipients in Punjab, and at uncovering the full network behind the illegal arms trade. Interstate supply of country-made and .32-bore pistols from Madhya Pradesh into Punjab has been a recurring pattern in Punjab Police busts, and this Rajpura case is the latest in that series.