5 of inter-state illegal arms syndicate nabbed in Delhi; 200 bullets recovered

New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) Delhi Police have arrested five key members, including the kingpin, of an illegal inter-state and ammunition supply cartel and recovered six illicit single-shot pistols and 200 bullets of .315 bore, which were meant to be supplied to the members of Hashim Baba gang, an official said on Friday.

An official said that the accused would procure the illicit arms from Munger in Bihar, and ammunition from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, and further supply the same to the members of the Hashim Baba gang in Delhi-NCR.

The arrested individuals were identified as Kapil Dev Yadav (43), Akhilesh Kumar (36), Lurak Kumar (29), Raghuvir Singh (45), and Manoj Kumar (34).

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pratiksha Godara said that an input about the presence of a key member of the syndicate at Sarai Kale Khan Bus Terminal was received.

Consequently, a trap near Sarai Kale Khan Bus Terminal, and one important member of the arms syndicate, Lurak was apprehended on December 16 along with six illicit country-made pistols and 200 live cartridges.

"On the instance of Kumar, the other key members of this syndicate, including the kingpin Kapil, were arrested from different parts of the country," said the DCP.

During questioning, it was revealed that Kapil and Akhilesh have been involved in the trafficking of illicit arms and ammunition for over 18 months.

"Kapil would provide labourers from Khagaria in Bihar at different cold storages situated in Etah and Shikohabad areas of Uttar Pradesh, whereas, Akhilesh would work as a labourer at a cold storage facility," said the DCP.

"One Devji, who earlier worked as a labourer with Akhilesh, met them and told them that he purchased country-made pistols from Rabbani, a resident of Munger in Bihar and sell them on a good margin but was unable to arrange live cartridges for the firearms. Devji asked them to arrange. 315 bore cartridges from Etah, Uttar Pradesh, as it was quite a profitable job," said the DCP.

Kapil asked his associate Manoj for arranging live cartridges of .315 bore, who in turn asked his known person Raghuvir, who previously worked at a gun house in Etah.