Punjab Police say they have busted two separate arms smuggling operations within days of each other, one involving grenades and assault rifles in Amritsar and another in which pistols were delivered straight to buyers' doorsteps disguised as parcel deliveries. Officers say the two cases, taken together, expose how illegal weapons are moving into the state through very different channels, from cross-border style hauls of military grade ordnance to a delivery style racket built to look like a routine courier drop.
Grenade and AK-47 recovered in Amritsar
In the first case, Amritsar Rural Police cracked down on an illegal gang smuggling weapons and explosives, arresting three accused and recovering a hand grenade, an AK-47 rifle, a modified M4 type.30 bore automatic weapon, a specially modified.30 bore semi-automatic weapon and five magazines from their possession. The sheer range of the haul, stretching from a hand grenade capable of mass casualties to assault rifles built for sustained fire, has put police on alert as they try to trace exactly where these weapons were being sourced from and who was meant to receive them.
A case has been registered at Gharinda police station under the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act, the two laws typically invoked when both firearms and explosive material are recovered together. Investigators are now working to establish the source of the recovered weapons, the purpose behind their intended use, and the identities of others connected to this smuggling chain, since a haul of this scale is rarely the work of just three people acting alone.
DGP Gaurav Yadav names the accused
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the arrested accused have been identified as Akashbir Singh alias Kashi, a resident of Bhaini Rajputan in Amritsar, Joban Singh, a resident of Balagan in Amritsar, and a minor whose identity has not been disclosed. Yadav said further investigation is underway to trace the source of the seized weapons, determine the purpose for which they were meant to be used, identify people linked to the accused, and expose the entire network operating behind them.
A gang that delivered pistols to doorsteps like parcel couriers
Separately, Punjab Police busted another inter-state gang that posed as parcel delivery staff to hand-deliver illegal weapons straight to customers' homes, a method designed to avoid drawing suspicion in residential neighbourhoods. Police seized 15 illegal pistols and 30 live cartridges that had been brought in from Madhya Pradesh, and arrested four young men aged between 20 and 22. According to sources, the gang would buy weapons cheaply in Madhya Pradesh and then resell them at inflated prices to gangsters operating in Punjab, effectively acting as an arms supply chain between the two states.
Police claim the accused were in direct contact with jailed gangster Sonu Khatri and were planning a major crime in the state. The seized weapons had reportedly been arranged specifically for members of the Sonu Khatri gang, which already has multiple cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, kidnapping and robbery registered against it, making the seizure especially significant for investigators tracking that network.
All four accused are college dropouts
Police said all four arrested men are college dropouts who allegedly got into the illegal arms trade in pursuit of quick money rather than out of any prior criminal record. They have been identified as Vishal, 20, a resident of Garhdiwala in Hoshiarpur, Subhash, a resident of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Jinder alias Sagar, 21, a resident of Talla in Hoshiarpur, and Badal, 20, a resident of Bhargav Camp in Jalandhar.
