Punjab Police on Thursday said it has busted an inter-state illegal arms supply network with the arrest of four persons involved in the racket. Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said 10 sophisticated self-loading firearms were seized during the operation carried out in Patiala district.
The arrested accused have been identified as Saurabh Kumar of Jarang Deeh village in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, Sajan of Sohana in SAS Nagar, Abhishek alias Kaka of Gurdeep Colony Ablowal in Patiala, and Inderjit Singh alias Rohit of Old Bishan Nagar in Patiala.
Initial probe revealed that the accused were procuring country-made weapons from Bihar and supplying them in Punjab for use in criminal activities.
The investigation has also pointed towards an ongoing gang rivalry. The accused were allegedly planning to target a rival criminal linked to the Goldy Dhillon network in an attempt to establish dominance in the region, the DGP said.
He added that further probe is underway to trace backward and forward links of the network and dismantle the entire arms supply chain.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Patiala Varun Sharma said police teams had received intelligence inputs that Bihar-based Kumar was supplying country-made self-loading pistols to notorious criminals on the instructions of foreign-based handlers to carry out targeted killings and other serious crimes.
Acting on the information, police teams under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Gurbans Singh Bains and Deputy Superintendent of Police Harman Cheema laid a trap and arrested all four accused involved in arms smuggling, the SSP said.
He further said Kumar arranged weapons from illegal arms-manufacturing units operating in Muzaffarpur and transported them to Punjab through different modes.
During initial interrogation, police found that Abhishek was in contact with gangster Goldy Dhillon through social media platforms and was actively involved in an ongoing gang rivalry, he added.
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