Chandigarh Police Crack Pakistan-Linked Drug and Arms Network Behind Cashier's Murder

Chandigarh Police have busted a criminal network that was smuggling drugs, weapons and fake currency across the India-Pakistan border, and using these resources to carry out violent crimes inside India. The breakthrough came while investigating the murder of a pharmacy cashier, Janki Das, who was shot dead in broad daylight in Chandigarh on June 13 by two masked men. The killing was caught on CCTV camera.

As police dug into the murder, they found it was not an isolated crime but part of a much bigger and organised smuggling operation. Three more people were arrested from Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts in Punjab, all linked to this network. Police also formally arrested the mastermind behind the operation, a gangster already lodged in Kapurthala Jail in Punjab, who allegedly directed the network from behind bars.

According to police, the network functioned like a supply chain. Handlers based in Pakistan and other foreign locations used drones to drop packages of drugs and weapons across the border into Punjab. Local operatives on the ground would then collect these packages. The entire coordination happened over encrypted messaging apps that are difficult for security agencies to track.

The jailed gangster allegedly directed local associates to collect the drone-dropped contraband and weapons. The network is then said to have brought in hired shooters from Jammu and Kashmir, given them safe hiding spots, tested the smuggled pistols to make sure they worked properly, and scouted out targets before the shootings took place.

In the cashier murder case specifically, the gangster arranged a meeting between his associate and the two shooters. That associate allegedly sheltered the shooters in his own house and supplied them with a pistol and cash before the killing.

During the raids, police recovered over 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, fake currency notes worth Rs 8 lakh in face value, and two pistols with magazines. These recoveries confirmed that the same network was involved in supplying drugs and fake currency in addition to enabling murders, pointing to a much larger organised crime operation spanning both sides of the border and multiple Indian states.

Police said the gangster running the network has a long criminal history, with 32 previous cases including murder, extortion and drug offences. Investigators believe such jailed kingpins are increasingly directing crime networks from inside prison using phones and encrypted apps.

The investigation is still ongoing. Police are trying to identify more people connected to the conspiracy, trace where the smuggled contraband and weapons originally came from, and map out the full extent of the network involved in this cross-border crime pipeline.