The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Fazilka, has busted a cross-border drug and arms smuggling cartel with the arrest of one accused and the recovery of 2.1kg of heroin and seven sophisticated pistols, police said on Wednesday.
Sharing details, director general of police Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused has been identified as Gurnam Singh alias Gama, a resident of Bhange Wala (Jhugge Kishore Singh Wala) village in Ferozepur district.
“The recovered weapons include one 9mm Glock pistol, four .30-bore pistols, two 9mm pistols and 10 live cartridges. Police also impounded the motorcycle, which was allegedly being used for smuggling contraband,” the DGP added.
The DGP said preliminary investigations revealed that the consignment of heroin and weapons was drone-dropped from across the border and sourced from Pakistan-based smugglers, intended for carrying out criminal activities in Punjab.
“Further investigations are underway to identify forward and backward linkages in the network,” he added.
Sharing operational details, AIG SSOC-Fazilka Naresh Kumar Dogra said that acting on a specific tip-off, SSOC teams launched an operation in the Jalalabad area and apprehended the accused near Baghe Ke Uttar village in Fazilka while he was riding his motorcycle.
During the search, police recovered heroin and three pistols from his possession. “On his disclosure, four more pistols were later recovered from a location identified by him. A case has been registered under Sections 21C and 25 of the NDPS Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act at police station SSOC in Fazilka,” he added.
