Punjab Police busted three drug trafficking and illegal arms supply networks in Amritsar, arresting five individuals and recovering over 3kg of heroin, officials said on Wednesday.

The DGP said preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused are involved in supplying illegal weapons and narcotics in the region. (HT)

The Amritsar police commissionerate also recovered 13 pistols and 22 live cartridges, said director general of police Gaurav Yadav.

Those arrested have been identified as Krish Gold (20) of Lohgarh in Amritsar, Kunal Mehta, alias Kannu (21), of Katra Dullo in Amritsar, Robin (21) of Hindustan Basti in Amritsar, Jaskaran Singh, alias Jass (36), of Bhootanpura in Amritsar and Jobanpreet Singh, alias Joban (22), of Naushehra Dhalla village in Tarn Taran. Jaskaran is a habitual offender with five criminal cases already registered against him under the NDPS Act and Arms Act, officials said.

The recovered pistols include eight .30-bore PX-3, three .30-bore, one 9MM Glock, and one 9MM pistol along with 22 live cartridges. Besides recovering weapons and narcotics, police teams also impounded their car, which they were using for smuggling activities.

The DGP said preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused are involved in supplying illegal weapons and narcotics in the region. Further investigation is underway to identify other persons involved in the racket, including foreign-based handlers, he said.

Sharing details, Amritsar Commissioner of Police (CP) Harmanbir Singh Gill said police teams arrested Krish Gold and Kunal Mehta and seized two .30-bore pistols from their possession, while three more pistols along with 14 live cartridges and 1.227 kg of heroin were recovered on Kunal’s disclosure. Subsequent interrogation led to the arrest of their accomplice Robin from Civil Lines, he said.

In another operation, the CP said police teams intercepted a car and apprehended Jaskaran after recovering 2.040 kg of heroin from the vehicle.

In the third operation, he said that acting on a reliable input, police teams nabbed Jobanpreet and recovered eight PX-3 pistols along with eight live cartridges from his possession.

Three separate cases under Sections 25(6,7,8) of the Arms Act and Section 21-C of the NDPS Act have been registered at the D-Division and Chheharta police stations.