Amritsar Commissionerate Police have dismantled two illegal arms supply networks, arrested six men and recovered 14 sophisticated pistols, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav announced on Tuesday, November 10.
Source: Daily Kiran
The announcement is the second major Amritsar arms action police publicised on Tuesday, and a separate one from the Amritsar Rural Police operation in which seven people were held with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and narcotics earlier in the day.
Source: TV9 Punjabi
Who was arrested
Police named the arrested men as Bobby Singh and Ravinder Singh, also known as Manna, both of Talwandi Shobha Singh village in Tarn Taran district; Gurpreet Singh, known as Preet, Kamal and Ajay Singh, alias Kaka, all of Amritsar; and Swarn Singh of Panchkula in Haryana. All six are accused in Arms Act cases and the allegations against them have not been tested in court.
What was recovered
According to the police account carried by Daily Kiran, the 14 firearms include a .30-calibre Tisas Zigana pistol, a .30-calibre Zigana Eagle, a Chinese-made .30-calibre pistol, two 9mm pistols, seven other .30-calibre pistols and two .32-calibre pistols.
How the operation unfolded
Amritsar Police Commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill said police teams, acting on intelligence, arrested five of the accused — Bobby Singh, Ravinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Kamal and Ajay Singh — in the first phase of the operation and recovered six illegal firearms from them. In a subsequent operation based on specific intelligence, Swarn Singh was arrested and eight more illegal firearms were recovered, taking the total to 14.
Police allege that preliminary investigation found the accused were in contact with foreign-based handlers through social media platforms, that the handlers facilitated illegal arms shipments sent across the border by drone, and that the accused collected those consignments and distributed the weapons to individuals involved in criminal activities. These are police allegations from a preliminary investigation, not findings of a court.
Source: DGP Punjab Police post, via TV9 Punjabi
The cases and what happens next
Two cases have been registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act — the first at Chherhta police station on November 2 and the second at Civil Lines police station on November 8, police said. DGP Yadav said further investigation is under way to identify other people involved, establish the complete backward and forward linkages of the networks and dismantle the wider supply chain.
In the separate rural operation announced the same day, Amritsar Rural Police said they recovered an RPG launcher, pistols and narcotics and arrested seven people. Read the Amritsar Rural RPG and heroin bust story
Everyone named in this report has been arrested on police allegations under the Arms Act. No court has tried the charges, and the accused are entitled to the presumption of innocence.