Arms trafficking module linked to Pak-based handler busted in Amritsar Punjab Police

Amritsar Police has arrested three suspects linked with an alleged arms smuggling module and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday.
     The recovered pistols include three 9mm Glock pistols, one 9mm Beretta pistol made in Italy, one 9mm Zigana firearm made in Turkey, one 9mm PX5 Glock-make from Turkey, and one .30-bore pistol.
     Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in direct contact with a Pakistan-based smuggler through social media platforms, who used to send consignments of illegal arms via drones.
     As per directions of these handlers, the accused would further deliver these illegal weapons to intended recipients, the DGP said, adding that further investigation is ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.
     The accused have been identified as Resham Singh alias Ghulla (30), Vishal Kumar (22) -- both residents of Tarn Taran district -- and Sumit alias Sachin (28), a resident of Amritsar.    
     Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said acting on specific and reliable inputs from secret sources, police teams carried out a coordinated operation during which accused Resham Singh alias Ghulla was apprehended and two 9mm Glock pistols were recovered from his possession.
     Subsequently, three more pistols were recovered from a spot disclosed by the accused in his statement, he said.
     Bhullar said during further interrogation, Ghulla revealed about his accomplice as Sumit alias Sachin, who was arrested in the operation and two pistols were recovered from his possession.
     On further investigation, accused Vishal Kumar was also arrested, he added.
     He said that arrestees had a common handler on whose directions Resham used to pick-up the consignments from near the border, while Sumit was delivering them further under the cover of car trading business.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)