India News | Two Amritsar Men Involved in Cross-border Smuggling Using Drones Held: Police

Chandigarh, Dec 15 (PTI) Two men involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and drugs through drones in collusion with a Pakistan based international smuggler were arrested from Amritsar, the Punjab police said on Tuesday.

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Police also recovered a drone, besides a pistol, from the possession of the duo identified as Lakhbir Singh alias Lakha and Bachittar Singh of Amritsar, said police.

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The seized drone is a quadcopter with full supporter stand and equipped with a SkyDroid transmitter with a mini receiver and camera, Punjab Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said in a statement.

A .32 bore revolver, some live cartridges and drugs too were recovered from them, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the Amritsar (Rural) police nabbed the main suspect Lakhbir near Gurdwara Tahla Sahib in the rural part of the city on Monday.

During interrogations, Lakhbir confessed to the police that he had procured the quadcopter drone from Delhi about four months ago and had kept it at the residence of his accomplice Bachittar Singh at Guru Amardas Avenue in Amritsar.

The revelations led police to recover the drone and arrest Bachittar too, the DGP said.

Further investigations revealed that Lakhbir was in close contact with four major drug smugglers of Ajnala, currently lodged in Amritsar jail.

A search in the prison led to the recovery of a smartphone from the possession of Lakhbir's associate Surjit Masih, a drug smuggler.

The DGP said investigations have revealed that Lakhbir had established an extensive communication network with foreign smugglers and entities and was in close contact with a notorious Pakistan-based smuggler, Chishti.

Chisthi is also in touch with Pakistan-based Khalistani operatives, and has been behind the smuggling of a significant number of contrabands' consignments from Pakistan to India in past, he said.

It was one Simranjit Singh, currently in Amritsar jail, who had persuaded Lakhbir to purchase a drone for cross-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons, the DGP said.

Simranjit Singh was also named as an accused in the case, said Gupta.

About four months ago, Lakhbir and his associate Gurpinder Singh had gone to New Delhi to purchase a heavy-duty quadcopter drone and transmitter for Rs four lakh.

(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)