In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar has busted a Pakistan-backed weapon smuggling racket being operated by absconding smuggler Manjot Singh alias Mannu from Dubai with the arrest of its one operative a, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
The arrested person has been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Kaka, a native of village Havellian in Tarn Taran and currently residing at village Saidpur in Amritsar Rural. Police teams have also recovered three sophisticated pistols— two 9MM Glock and one .30 bore China Made Pistol— along with 4 cartridges, besides, impounding his grey coloured Honda Activa scooter (PB02EF2599), which he was riding.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following a reliable input that a foreign-based Indian individual Manjot Singh alias Mannu has been operating a weapon smuggling racket through Pakistan with the help of following his India based individuals, CI Amritsar has launched an intel-based operation and arrested the accused Gurpreet Singh at a Special Naka at village Khurmanian Amritsar on link road from village Ram Tirath, when he was going to deliver the weapon consignment.
He said that preliminary investigation has revealed that Manjot Singh is the kingpin of this network and was using encrypted apps to contact his Pakistan-based weapon smugglers. The arrested accused used to retrieve weapon consignment dropped using drones from across the border and further supply it to the gangsters in various cities of Punjab on the directions of accused Manjot, he added.
Pertinently, accused Manjot is wanted by the Punjab Police in NDPS case registered against him at Police Station Sarai Amanant Khan in Tarn Taran in 2022. Moreover, the arrested accused Gurpreet Singh has also been facing criminal case under the NDPS Act at Police Station Sarai Amanant Khan. The DGP said that police teams have also identified his accomplice and raids are being conducted to nab him.
Further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he added. In this regard, a case FIR No. 1 dated 08.01.2025 has been registered under sections 25 and 25(1) (a) of the Arms Act and section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act at Police Station State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar.