Punjab: Cross-border drug, arms smuggling network busted, four held

Chandigarh, July 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross‑border drug and illegal arms smuggling network with the arrest of four people from whom 5.557 kg heroin and two sophisticated pistols were seized, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Saturday.

Those arrested have been identified as Akash Sandhu (30), Sunil Saroj (40), Harwinder Singh (32) and Vansh Singh (40). Sandhu, Saroj and Harwinder are habitual offenders with previous cases under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act already registered against them. The recovered pistols include one 9MM Glock and one .30 bore.

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were in contact with foreign‑based smugglers and received narcotics and weapon consignments for further distribution to criminal elements in the region.

Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Bhullar said acting on a tip‑off, the police first arrested Sandhu and recovered 192 grams of heroin from his possession, while an additional 776 grams of heroin was recovered based on his disclosure.

During the investigation, Sandhu disclosed that he had procured the heroin from accused Sunil Saroj. Acting swiftly, the police arrested Saroj and recovered 4.589 kg of heroin from his possession.

Continuing the investigation, police teams arrested two more accused, Harwinder Singh and Vansh Singh, and recovered two sophisticated pistols from their possession. Bhullar said accused Harwinder was also wanted in a commercial quantity heroin case.

The probe has revealed that Harwinder and Vansh Singh are residents of the same village situated in proximity to the International Border, indicating their strategic role in facilitating cross‑border narco and arms smuggling activities.

Two first information reports were registered under Sections 21‑B, 21‑C and 29 of the NDPS Act and Sections 25(6, 7 and 8) of the Arms Act.

Source: IANS