Chandigarh, Apr 2 (PTI) The Punjab Police said on Thursday that it has busted an inter-state illegal arms-supply module with the arrest of four men.

Ten sophisticated self-loading firearms have also been recovered in Patiala, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Saurabh Kumar, a resident of Jarang Deeh village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, Sajan, a resident of Sohana in Punjab’s SAS Nagar, Abhishek alias Kaka, a resident of Gurdeep Colony Ablowal in Patiala, and Inderjit Singh alias Rohit, a resident of Old Bishan Nagar in Patiala.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were sourcing country-made weapons from Bihar and supplying those in Punjab for criminal activities.

Further probe has also indicated a gang rivalry, with plans to target a rival criminal linked to the Goldy Dhillon network to establish dominance in the area, the DGP said.

He said further investigation is underway to establish backward and forward linkages in the case to dismantle the entire network.

Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patiala, Varun Sharma said police teams had received inputs that Bihar-resident Kumar is supplying country-made self-loading pistols to notorious criminals on the directions of their foreign-based handlers in order to commit targeted killings and other heinous crimes in the state.

Under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Patiala, Gurbans Singh Bains and Deputy Superintendent of Police Harman Cheema, the teams laid a trap and arrested the four men involved in the smuggling of firearms, the SSP said.

He further said Kumar was arranging weapons from illegally set up arms-manufacturing units in Muzaffarpur to supply those in Punjab, using various modes of transportation.

During initial interrogation, it was also found that Abhishek was in contact with notorious gangster Goldy Dhillon via social media platforms and was actively involved in a gang war, he said. PTI CHS RC