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In an intelligence-led operation amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state, Amritsar Commissionerate Police busted a cross-border organised arms smuggling module with the arrest of its six members and recovered six sophisticated weapons and 5.75 lakh hawala money from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Pargat Singh of village Vaan Tara Singh in Tarn Taran, Ajaybir Singh alias Ajay of Gali Punjab Singh in Amritsar, Karanbir Singh alias Karan of Pal Avenue in Amritsar, Ram of Pal Avenue in Amritsar, Mehakpreet Singh alias Rohit of Officer Colony in Amritsar and Dinesh Kumar of Adampur in Jalandhar. The recovered weapons include one 9MM Glock, three .30 bore PX5 pistols, one .32 bore and .30 bore pistol. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the syndicate was being operated by the arrested accused, Mehakpreet Singh alias Rohit, under the directions of his foreign-based handlers via social media. During the operation, multiple recoveries were made at different stages of investigation, he said. The DGP said that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backwards linkages in this case. More arrests and recoveries are expected in the coming days, he added. Sharing operation details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the accused, Pargat Singh, was initially arrested with two weapons, which were part of cross-border consignments and meant to be distributed further through the network. Further, during the course of the investigation, other members of the module-- Ajaybir, Karanbir and Shri Ram-- were arrested along with one pistol, he said, while adding that the kingpin of the module, identified as Mehakpreet, was arrested from Goa and three weapons were recovered from his possession. The CP said that the probe has found that the money from the arms smuggling trade was routed through a hawala network, in which the accused Dinesh was arrested along with Rs 5.75 lakh in Hawala money. In this regard, a case FIR No. 218 dated 18-08-2025 had been registered under section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Gate Hakima in Amritsar. (ANI)
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