Amritsar: Police on Saturday claimed to have busted two foreign-linked arms and narcotics supply networks, arresting four men and seizing an M16 assault rifle, 15kg of opium, nine pistols and 25 live cartridges.This is the third seizure of an assault rifle in Punjab in just 12 days. On Sept 29, police seized two assault rifles (an AK-47 and an AK-56), along with three magazines and 10 live cartridges, besides more than 10kg of heroin.On Oct 3, police seized an AK-47 and three hand grenades from a man in Tarn Taran.Inspector general of police (border range) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said preliminary investigations indicated that the four accused in the latest case were allegedly linked to foreign-based smugglers and involved in procuring illegal weapons.Separate FIRs have been registered at Gharinda and Lopoke police stations in Amritsar district. Amritsar senior superintendent of police (rural) Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said investigations were underway to establish the source of the weapons and opium, identify suppliers and trace intended recipients.Police are also probing the alleged links of the arrested men with cross-border and foreign-based smuggling networks. The two cases are being investigated separately, Chahal said.
