Punjab Police bust cross-border arms smuggling racket, 6 arrested

Punjab Police arrested six people in an arms smuggling case linked to foreign handlers. The group was led by Mehakpreet Singh, caught in Goa. Six weapons and Rs 5.75 lakh hawala money were seized. More arrests and recoveries are expected

Chandigarh: Punjab Police on Thursday claimed to have busted a cross-border organised arms smuggling module with the arrest of six persons.

Six sophisticated weapons and Rs 5.75 lakh have also been recovered from their possession, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said. The syndicate was operated by Mehakpreet Singh alias Rohit under the directions of his foreign-based handlers. During the operation by Amritsar police, multiple recoveries were made at different stages of investigation, he said.

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“Pargat Singh was initially arrested with two weapons from cross-border consignments. Further investigation led to the arrest of Ajaybir Singh, Karanbir Singh and Shri Ram with additional weapons,” the DGP said in a post on X.

Mehakpreet, the kingpin of the module, was arrested in Goa with three weapons. The arms trade proceeds were routed through hawala, for which Dinesh Kumar was arrested with Rs 5.75 lakh hawala money, Yadav said.

A case has been registered at Gate Hakima police station in Amritsar. “Further investigation is underway to trace the forward and backward linkages, with more arrests and recoveries likely,” he said.