Chandigarh, Jul 27 (PTI) Punjab Police on Thursday busted an arms smuggling racket after arresting five people and recovered 24 illegal weapons from them, a senior official said.

The racket was busted by the Mohali police.

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"In a mega breakthrough, CIA unit of @sasnagarpolice busts one of the biggest arms smuggling rackets of North India. The arms smugglers used to supply weapons in #Punjab & #Haryana,” Punjab's Director General of Police, Gaurav Yadav said in a tweet.

"Identified 4 major Gangsters of Bambiha and Lawrence Gang and arrested 5 associates," Yadav said in a tweet.

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He said the kingpin of this racket -- Vikrant alias Vikki Thakur from Meerut -- used to supply illegal firearms to major gangs.

Yadav said 24 illegal weapons and 12 live cartridges have been recovered.

Police said further investigations were on.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)