Overview
- Punjab Police arrested four men in Amritsar, including Afghan national Esmailkhel Tawhid, following an intelligence-led operation on Monday.
- Officers seized eight pistols and seven live cartridges, specifically one .30‑bore Beretta, four 9mm Glocks and three .30‑bore pistols, and impounded a scooter used by the suspects.
- Interrogation and searches showed the suspects were allegedly in contact with a foreign-based smuggler who used concealed border drop locations to deliver consignments.
- Police say Tawhid ran a hawala-style money conduit under a dry-fruit business cover to move funds for the racket and that separate FIRs have been filed as investigators hunt for other handlers and recoveries.
- Investigators warn the network could arm local criminal groups and strain public safety in Punjab, and they are tracing backward and forward links while emphasising hawala as an informal remittance channel often used for clandestine cross-border payments.