Amritsar (Punjab) [India] June 8 (ANI): In a significant breakthrough against trans-border narco-smuggling, Amritsar Rural Police arrested two key traffickers near Village Bhakna and seized 6 kilograms of high-grade heroin.

Acting on specific intelligence, a police team intercepted Gurditta alias Kalu and Captain near Village Bhakna while they were transporting a high-grade heroin consignment on a motorcycle.

According to the officials on Sunday, the heroin consignment had been smuggled into India by Pakistan-based handlers and was further meant for distribution across Punjab.

An FIR under the NDPS Act was registered at Police Station Gharinda.

Police said that another accused was currently absconding and efforts were underway to track and arrest him.

The DGP said that preliminary investigations are still ongoing to unravel the full extent of the drug supply chain, including cross-border linkages.

Earlier on Friday, Punjab Police Counter-Intelligence (CI) unit in Amritsar has successfully identified and dismantled a cross-border illegal arms smuggling network with connections to Pakistan.

As a result of this operation, two operatives involved in the smuggling activities have been arrested, Punjab Director General of Police, Gaurav Yadav, said.

According to a release, those arrested are Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Daoke in Amritsar, and Jugraj Singh, a resident of Bhakna Kalan in Amritsar. The police teams also recovered eight sophisticated pistols--three 9MM Glocks, four Px5s, and one .30-bore pistol--from their possession and impounded their black motorcycle, which was used for transporting the consignments.

The DGP said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were acting under the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler identified as Noor, a resident of Manihala in Pakistan, who has been using drones to drop weapon consignments from across the border.

The arrested accused were further distributing the arms to gangsters across Punjab, intending to fuel criminal activities in the state, he said.

Sharing operation details, the DGP said that CI Amritsar received specific intelligence about the retrieval of a weapon consignment from the village of Bhaini Rajputtan in the jurisdiction of Gharinda in Amritsar. (ANI)