Arms case: Accused pooled money to buy Rs 4 lakh drone

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 16

The two alleged members of a drone module nabbed by the police along with their four accomplices lodged in the Amritsar central jail had pooled money to procure a heavy-duty quadcopter drone worth Rs 4 lakh from Delhi.

This came to light during the preliminary investigations carried out following the arrest of the duo, identified as Lakhbir Singh, alias Lakha, a resident of Chak Mishri Khan village, and Bachittar Singh of Guru Amar Dass Avenue. They are presently on

six-day police remand.

Lakhbir Singh is the son of a cop posted with the Mohali police, revealed an official privy to the investigations.

With their arrest, the Punjab Police yesterday claimed to have busted a module which was using drones for cross-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons through an

international network.

It had recovered a heavy-duty quadcopter drone with a full supporter stand and one SkyDroid T10 2.4GHz 10CH FHSS transmitter, along with a mini-receiver and camera support from their possession.

Lakhbir and Bachittar have criminal records with the local police. Lakhbir was wanted in an NDPS case while Bachittar Singh had an attempt to murder case registered against him.

Police sources said the duo were in contact with four drug peddlers lodged in the central jail here. They were identified as Surjit Masih, Simranjit Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Harjit Singh. They would be brought on production warrant tomorrow for further interrogation. Following the interrogation of the duo, a mobile phone was also recovered from Surjit Masih in the jail. A separate case is being lodged with the Islamabad police by the jail authorities.

The quadcopter drone, which was hidden at the residence of Bachittar, can carry a load of approximately 7 to 10 kg at a time.

According to the police, as dense fog has engulfed the region and there was almost zero visibility at the Indo-Pak border, the accused were planning to get the supply of arms and drugs from their Pakistan-based handlers for carrying out nefarious activities.

Used to carry arms

The police claimed to have busted a module which was using drones for cross-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons. The quadcopter drone, which was hidden at the residence of one of the accused, can carry a load of approximately 7 to 10 kg at a time

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