In an intelligence-led operation, State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar has busted an inter-state illegal gunrunning module backed by USA based handlers with the arrest of its two members and recovered 10 .32 bore country-made pistols along with 20 magazines and ammunition from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.

Those arrested have been identified as Satnam Singh alias Prince, a resident of Buttar Kalan of Batala and Manjit Singh, resident of Bhagi Nangal in Batala, according to an official statement.

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DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that primarily, accused Satnam alias Prince was in touch with his USA-based handler identified as Sunny Masih alias Gulli, who is wanted in multiple cases of heroin smuggling.

For his convenience, accused Satnam also involved his relative Manjit into drug peddling and transportation of illegal weapons, he said.

He said that investigations have also revealed that the accused persons were procuring illegal weapons from Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand on the directions of their USA based handler to further supply them to Punjab-based gangsters.

The DGP said that further investigations are going on to establish backward and forward linkages to unearth the entire network of this module.

Sharing more details, AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said that SSOC Amritsar has received a secret information that Sunny Masih alias Gulli, a native of Dhianpur in Gurdaspur and currently residing in USA, is running an inter-state weapons smuggling module in the state with the help of his associates.

In pursuit of the input, the teams of SSOC Amritsar launched an intel-based operation and arrested two members of this module after recovering a weapon consignment from their possession, he said.

He said that during questioning, arrested accused Satnam has revealed that Sunny Masih used to pay him courier charges on per delivery basis.

Accused also revealed that around one month ago, he smuggled four weapons from MP to Punjab for which he was paid Rs 10,000 and for the current delivery, Sunny had promised him to pay Rs 20,000.

The AIG said that accused Satnam Singh has a criminal history with at least three cases under NDPS Act registered against him. The latter was released on bail on July 30, 2024.

In this regard, a case FIR No. 70 dated 15.12.2024 has been registered under Sections 25, 25 (6) and 25 (7) of the Arms Act and Sections 111 and 61 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station SSOC Amritsar.