Punjab Police arrests two MP-based arms suppliers

Chandigarh, Aug 5 (IANS) Punjab Police on Saturday said it busted an inter-state illegal weapon smuggling module with the arrest of two Madhya Pradesh-based arms suppliers involved in large-scale illegal manufacturing and supply of weapons into Punjab and other states.

The accused were apprehended from Madhya Pradesh by a team of the Counter Intelligence of Jalandhar.

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav has identified the accused as Harpal Singh and Kishore Singh Rathore of Madhya Pradesh. The police teams have also recovered a cache of 17 pistols of .32 bore along with 35 magazines from their possession.

"The preliminary investigations revealed that these weapons were meant to be supplied to criminal gangs associated with Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravi Balachauria," he said.

The development came after the Counter Intelligence unit arrested a person identified as Lovedeep, alias Love, from Jalandhar after recovering one pistol along with two cartridges from his possession.

The DGP said during the investigation of linkages, it came to the fore that the recovered weapon was part of a consignment, supplied by inter-state weapon manufacturers and suppliers, suspected to be based in MP's Khargone and Bharwani districts.

Following inputs, a team of Counter Intelligence went to MP on Tuesday and managed to trace out and arrest both the accused arms suppliers, he added.

AIG, Counter Intelligence, Navjot Singh Mahal said the operation is still going on and there is a high possibility of more recovery of arms and ammunition.