TWO LINKED TO CROSS-BORDER SMUGGLING MODULE HELD WITH 6 SOPHISTICATED PISTOLS, 1KG HEROIN, ₹10K DRUG MONEY

ACCUSED WERE IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH A FOREIGN-BASED HANDLER: DGP GAURAV YADAV* ARRESTED ACCUSED JOGA SINGH HAS A LONG CRIMINAL HISTORY DATING BACK TO 2002: CP ASR GURPREET BHULLAR* In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has busted a cross-border illegal arms and narcotics smuggling module with the arrest of two individuals and recovered six sophisticated pistols, 1 kg heroin, 1 kg opium, and ₹10,000 drug money from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday. Those arrested have been identified as Joga Singh (45), a resident of village Dall in Tarn Taran and Manpreet Singh (28), a resident of village Kali in Tarn Taran. The recovered pistols include two .30 bore X-Shot, two .30 (Made in China), one .30 bore Türkiye Zigana and one .30 bore PX5 Storm. Police teams have also impounded their motorcycle being used for smuggling activities. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in direct contact with a foreign-based handler, who facilitated the smuggling of illegal weapons and narcotics across the International Border for further distribution to criminal elements. Further investigation is underway to establish the forward and backward linkages of the network to identify all associates connected with the foreign-based handlers, he said. Sharing operational details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on reliable intelligence, police teams first arrested accused Joga Singh and recovered four illegal .30 bore pistols from his possession. During sustained interrogation, police further recovered two more .30 bore pistols on the basis of his disclosure statement, he said. In a follow-up operation, the CP Police teams also arrested accused Manpreet Singh and recovered 1 kg heroin from his possession, while, 1 kg opium and ₹10,000 drug money was recovered later on the basis of his disclosure statement. He said that further investigation has revealed that accused Joga Singh was running an illegal arms supply network, whereas, accused Manpreet Singh was operating a cross-border drug smuggling module at the behest of common foreign-based handler. Accused Joga Singh is a habitual offender with 21 criminal cases— pertaining to Murder, the Arms Act, the NDPS Act, Theft, Dacoity and Robbery— already registered against him across Tarn Taran, Amritsar Rural, Kapurthala and Ludhiana Rural. Accused Joga Singh has a long criminal history dating back to 2002, when his first case under the Arms Act was registered against him. Among the previous cases registered against accused Joga Singh is FIR No. 23 of 2019, Police Station Khalra, Tarn Taran, relating to an incident in which he, along with his associate, attempted to retrieve a cross-border drug consignment from across the River Ravi. During the operation, his associate drowned while attempting to cross the river and succumbed to the incident. In this regard, two separate cases— FIR No. 162 dated 17.07.2026 under section 25(8) of the Arms Act at Police Station Chheharta and FIR No. 126 dated 17.07.2026 under sections 21 and 21-C of the NDPS Act at Police Station Cantonment— have been registered.