2 Arms Suppliers Nabbed From MP As Punjab Police Foils Inter-State Weapon Smuggling Racket

The breakthrough came after the Counter Intelligence unit arrested a person named Lovedeep alias Love on Maqsudan-Bidhipur Road in Jalandhar, Punjab.

Following the arrest of two arms suppliers from Madhya Pradesh, the Punjab Police busted an inter-state weapon smuggling module, as reported by news agency PTI on Saturday (August 5). The accused, Harpal Singh of Signoor village in Khargone district and Kishore Singh Rathore of Balwari village in Madhya Pradesh's Bharwani district were involved in large-scale illegal weapon manufacturing and supply, it said. 

They were apprehended by a team from Counter Intelligence-Jalandhar in Madhya Pradesh. During the operation, the police seized 17 pistols of .32 bore along with 35 magazines from the arrested suppliers, the report said. 

Punjab's Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav stated that preliminary investigations revealed that the seized weapons were intended to be supplied to criminal gangs linked to Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravi Balachauria.

"Preliminary investigations revealed that these weapons were meant to be supplied to criminal gangs associated with Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravi Balachauria," Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

The breakthrough came after the Counter Intelligence unit arrested a person named Lovedeep alias Love on Maqsudan-Bidhipur Road in Jalandhar, Punjab, according to the report. A pistol along with two cartridges was confiscated from him during the arrest, it added. 

Further investigation revealed that the seized weapon was part of a consignment from manufacturers and suppliers suspected of being based in the Madhya Pradesh districts of Khargone and Bharwani, the report said. 

In response to this information, on Tuesday, a team from Counter Intelligence-Jalandhar was dispatched to Madhya Pradesh, resulting in the successful tracking and arrest of the arms suppliers, it added. 

Navjot Singh Mahal, Assistant Inspector General, Counter Intelligence, Jalandhar, confirmed that the operation is still ongoing and that further seizures of arms and ammunition are possible as the investigation progresses, as per the report.