Punjab Police Bust Inter-State Gun Running Racket in Amritsar

Chandigarh: The Punjab Police busted an inter-state gun running racket backed by a US-based handler with the arrest of two members, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday.

The police seized 10 country-made pistols along with 20 magazines and ammunition from the pair, he added.

The arrested accused have been identified as Satnam Singh alias Prince of Buttar Kalan and Manjit Singh of Bhagi Nangal in Batala city of Gurdaspur district.

Investigations revealed that Satnam Singh was primarily in touch with his US-based handler -- Sunny Masih alias Gulli, wanted in multiple heroin smuggling cases.

For his convenience, Satnam Singh involved his relative Manjit Singh in peddling drugs and transporting illegal weapons, Yadav said.

The investigations also revealed that the accused procured illegal weapons from Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand on the directions of Masih to supply them to Punjab-based gangsters.

Further investigations are underway to unearth the entire network, the police chief said.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar) Sukhminder Singh Mann said the cops received a tip that Masih, a native of Dhianpur village in Gurdaspur district, was running an inter-state weapons smuggling module with the help of his associates.

Acting on the input, State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar, arrested two members of the module after seizing a weapons consignment from them, he said.

During questioning, Satnam Singh revealed that Masih paid him courier charges per delivery.

He also revealed that he smuggled four weapons from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab about a month ago, for which he was paid Rs 10,000. Masih had promised Rs 20,000 for the latest delivery.

Mann said Satnam Singh had a criminal history with at least three drugs cases registered against him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)