Chandigarh, Dec 15 : In an intelligence-led operation, Punjab Police's State Special Operation Cell of Amritsar has busted an inter-state illegal gun trade backed by US-based handlers with the arrest of its two members and recovered 10 country-made pistols along with 20 magazines and ammunition from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.

Those arrested have been identified as Satnam Singh and Manjit Singh, both residents of Batala.

DGP Yadav said preliminary investigations have revealed that primarily, accused Satnam was in touch with his US-based handler, Sunny Masih alias Gulli, who is wanted in multiple cases of heroin smuggling.

For his convenience, accused Satnam also involved his relative Manjit in drug peddling and transportation of illegal weapons, he said.

Yadav said investigations have also revealed that the accused were procuring illegal weapons from Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand to further supply them to Punjab-based gangsters.

The DGP said investigations are going on to establish linkages to unearth the entire network of this module.

Assistant Inspector General Sukhminder Singh Mann said they have received a tip-off that Sunny Masih is running an inter-state weapons smuggling module in the state with the help of his associates.

In pursuit of the input, the police launched an operation and arrested two members of this module after recovering a weapon consignment from their possession, he said.

During questioning, the arrested accused Satnam revealed that Sunny Masih used to pay him courier charges on a delivery basis. The accused also revealed that around one month ago, he smuggled four weapons from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab for which he was paid Rs 10,000 and for the current delivery, Sunny had promised him to pay Rs 20,000.

He said the accused Satnam Singh has a criminal history with at least three cases under the NDPS Act registered against him. He was released on bail on July 30.

/IANS