Tarn Taran, October 21: The Border Security Force (BSF) and a Khalra police team arrested three men, including the police gunman of former Congress MLA Kulbir Singh Zira, during a search operation in the border belt of Punjab's Tarn Taran district on Tuesday evening, recovering 525 grams of opium and a Bolero vehicle, according to reports by TV9 Punjabi, Daily Post and News18 Punjab.

The joint team was conducting a search near Border Out Post (BOP) Mangli at around 5 pm on Tuesday when the three were detained on suspicion and the opium was recovered from them, the reports said.

Those arrested were identified as Amarjit Singh, a resident of village Sulayani in Ferozepur district, Kuldeep Singh of Saner Road in Zira, and Jagbir Singh of village Buian in Ferozepur district. Amarjit Singh serves in the Punjab Police and had recently been posted as a gunman with Kulbir Singh Zira, the former Congress MLA from Zira in Ferozepur district. The arrest was first flagged publicly on social media on Tuesday by Aam Aadmi Party leader Baltej Pannu.

Zira, responding to the arrest, said the constable had done barely an hour of duty with him. He said his regular gunman, ASI Resham Singh, had gone on leave due to illness, after which a new gunman was sent to him on the directions of the Ferozepur SSP's office. Zira said he had already told the officials concerned that the new gunman's conduct did not seem right, and claimed the man appeared unwilling to do the duty and was trying to get himself transferred.

Zira also alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab wants to have him killed in an encounter, saying he faces threats from gangsters and has raised his security concerns before the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier as well. These are Zira's allegations; the state government had not responded to them in the reports available at the time of publishing. TV9 Punjabi reported that no detailed official statement from the BSF or the police on the arrest and recovery had been issued yet, and further investigation is under way.