Mohali: Arms smuggling racket busted, one arrested with four pistols

Mohali: The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Mohali has arrested a man for running an interstate organised arms smuggling racket and recovered four .32 bore pistols from his possession. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the arrested accused has been identified as Vinod Kumar alias Rahul, a resident of Giaspura, Ludhiana. Rahul has cases of theft and snatching registered against him and has a criminal history. SSOC Amritsar had received information that accused Vinod, who was involved in supplying illegal arms and ammunition from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab, was going from Ludhiana to Kharar to deliver the arms consignment to criminal elements.

Acting swiftly, the police team of SSOC laid a trap and successfully arrested the accused near a toll plaza at Gharuan, Kharar and recovered two .32 bore pistols from his possession. Further investigation led to the recovery of two more .32 bore pistols from the place mentioned by the accused, he said. Apart from supplying illegal weapons in Punjab, the accused was also providing logistics support to various gangs. Further investigation is underway to unearth the entire network, he said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused, while in Ludhiana jail, came in contact with gangsters sitting inside and outside the jail and was now working for them to bring consignments of weapons from Madhya Pradesh and deliver them to various gangs active in the state. The arrested accused also revealed that he had smuggled two huge consignments of illegal weapons from Jasundi, Burhanpur villages of Madhya Pradesh in the last one month and delivered these in Mohali. A case was registered on August 13 at SSOC police station, SAS Nagar under Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 61(2) of the Indian Penal Code (BNS).