Counter Intelligence wing recovers 10 country-made pistols and 20 magazines; accused linked to foreign-based handlers orchestrating crime across the state.
The Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of Jalandhar has dismantled a dangerous inter-state arms supply network, arresting two individuals from Uttar Pradesh and recovering an illegal cache of 10 country-made pistols (7.65 mm calibre) along with 20 magazines. Investigators say the accused were operating under the direction of criminal masterminds based in Germany and the United States, channelling weapons to organised gangs operating across Punjab.
The breakthrough came during a sustained intelligence-led investigation that had already yielded earlier arrests in the same case. Those prior detentions had revealed the involvement of operatives linked to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a proscribed organisation, who had been acting on instructions from their foreign-based handlers to acquire and plant explosive devices in the region.
“Preliminary investigations reveal the accused maintain active links with foreign handlers who orchestrate acts of terrorism and criminal extortion from abroad.”
According to senior CI officials, two BKI operatives had earlier been arrested for procuring three grenades and an improvised explosive device (IED) near Balachaur. The same IED was subsequently used in a blast at Nalagarh Police Station in Himachal Pradesh — a development that underscores the cross-border nature of the threat. In a separate incident, the accused were also found to have carried out a firing at a travel agent’s residence in Garhshankar as part of an extortion attempt.
The two individuals arrested in the latest operation — both residents of Uttar Pradesh — are believed to have served as the logistics arm of this wider network, procuring and transporting firearms from UP into Punjab for use by criminal and terror-linked gangs. Officials confirmed that a formal case has been registered at Amritsar in connection with the entire module.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Arresting agency: Counter Intelligence (CI) wing, Jalandhar
- Accused: Two residents of Uttar Pradesh
- Weapons recovered: 10 country-made pistols (7.65 mm) and 20 magazines
- Foreign handlers based in Germany and the USA
- Linked to IED blast at Nalagarh Police Station, Himachal Pradesh
- Extortion-linked firing at a travel agent’s residence in Garhshankar
- Case registered at Amritsar
The arrest points to an increasingly sophisticated pipeline through which weapons manufactured in Uttar Pradesh — a hub for unregulated small arms production — are being funnelled into Punjab at the behest of foreign-based criminals. Authorities are continuing their investigation to map the full extent of the network and identify all those involved in financing and coordinating its activities.
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