Punjab police busts MP-based arms supply network, arrests accused

Kapurthala (Punjab) [India], July 11 (ANI): Punjab Police on Saturday busted another Madhya Pradesh-based illicit weapon supply network with the arrest of its main supplier, identified as Baljit Singh alias Sweety Singh of district Barwani in MP.
Singh, a resident of village Umarti in Barwani, has been found indulging in manufacturing and supply of high-quality illicit weapons to Punjab and other states of northern India, said Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta in an official statement.
Kapurthala Police have also recovered three .32 bore Pistols, along with three magazines from his possession, he added.
This is the third such MP-based illegal weapon manufacturing and supply module busted by the Punjab Police within the last eight months. Earlier, Amritsar Rural Police had unearthed two such modules, including one illicit Small Arms Manufacturing unit in MP with the arrest of weapon smugglers, who were supplying weapons to gangsters, criminals and radicals in Punjab.
Sharing details, DGP Dinkar Gupta said that the development came 10 days after the Kapurthala Police in the vigorous follow-up operations led by SSP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh had arrested four robbers after recovering 10 Pistols and one Rifle, along with ammunition, from their possession.
He said that the arrested robbers revealed they were getting the supply of weapons from MP based smuggler Sweety Singh and were hatching a conspiracy to carry our robberies and dacoities, snatch money from Petrol Pumps as well as farmers.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said that following these inputs, the Kapurthala police procured arrest warrants of Sweety Singh and a special police team from Kapurthala was dispatched to district Barwani to arrest him after coordinating the operations with MP Police.
"After vigorous efforts, the Punjab Police team, while working closely with MP Police, managed to arrest Sweety Singh, who unsuccessfully attempted to evade arrest by crossing the Narmada river to enter the Maharashtra border," he said.
The DGP also thanked the Madhya Pradesh Police for their enormous support to the Punjab Police in unearthing these illicit weapon manufacturing and supply units and modules.
SSP Khakh said that Sweety had disclosed that he and his elder brother, Sumer Singh were into this weapons manufacturing and supply trade from many years and they used to upload videos of Pistols on various social media platforms to lure their customers and this is how the present robber module of Punjab established contact with them. He said initial investigations found that Sweety was running a YouTube channel on name of 'Azad Group Munger' on which he used to flourish his illegal weapons business and when buyers ask about price, the group used to share their WhatsApp number.
Sweety also revealed that of around 40-45 houses in their village Umarti, more than 20 were involved in the business of manufacturing and sale of illicit weapons, especially .30 bore and .32 bore Pistols, Khakh added.
Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under sections 399 and 402 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Fattudhinga Kapurthala. (ANI)