The Patiala police have busted an interstate arms smuggling gang that disguised itself as parcel delivery employees to supply weapons directly at home. Four youths in their early twenties were arrested with 15 illegal pistols (.32 bore) and 30 live cartridges.

SSP Varun Sharma said the accused wore uniforms of Flipkart and other delivery companies to avoid suspicion. “They packed weapons in delivery cartons and old boxes to make them look like genuine parcels,” he said.

The gang allegedly sourced arms at cheap rates from Madhya Pradesh and sold them at high prices to gangsters in Punjab. The police said the group was in direct contact with jailed gangster Sonu Khatri and was planning a major incident in the state.

A team led by SP Vaibhav Choudhary and Patiala CIA in-charge Pardeep Singh Bajwa arrested the accused from Basantpura, near national highway in Rajpura. “Their questioning is vital to ascertain how many times earlier and to whom they supplied weapons,” Sharma said.

The arrested men were identified as Vishal (20), a resident of Garhdiwala, Hoshiarpur; Subhash of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Jinder, alias Sagar (21), a resident of Talla, Hoshiarpur; and Badal (20), a resident of Bhargav Camp in Jalandhar.

The police said all four dropped out of college and entered the arms trade for quick money. The seized weapons were meant for members of Sonu Khatri’s gang, which faces multiple cases of murder, attempted murder, dacoity, kidnapping and robbery. “We are grilling the accused to uncover their modus operandi and possible targets,” Sharma added.