Jungles in poll-bound MP throwing up guns: Pistols worth Rs 75 lakh seized within a month

Bhopal, Oct 02 (IANS) Ahead of the Assembly polls, jungles in Madhya Pradesh are throwing up guns, buried in the ground and meant for use by organised criminal gangs of different parts of the country.

As part of a crackdown against illicit liquor, cash, drugs and weapons at the behest of the Election Commission of India (ECI), multiple gunrunning rackets have been busted in various parts of the state and illegal guns valued between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 75 lakh seized within a month.

While over 500 guns, including country-made pistols, revolvers, including semi-automatic guns have been seized in the last one month in Shivpuri, Gwalior, Morena, Dhar, Barwani and Khargone districts, the latest seizure of 151 pistols worth over Rs 31.56 lakh has been made in the jungles of west MP’s Dhar district.

“Acting on specific inputs, a gang being run by three inter-state gunrunners (all hailing from the Sikligar community), the racket was busted in the jungles of Gandhwani area on Wednesday. The gunrunners, identified as Ishwar Singh Barnala, Takhdir Singh Barnala and Jatan Singh Chhabra were arrested. Based on their interrogation, the police teams raided the forests in Baria village and busted their gun-making den being run from a small hut,” Dhar district Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh said.

Based on the information given by the arrested trio, the police raided the jungles and unearthed sacks containing pistols and revolvers which had been buried to evade detection.

“Total 151 pistols were seized. The pistols based on the prices which they fetch from big gangs (Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per pistol) were valued at around Rs 31.56 lakh. This is perhaps the biggest illegal gun seizure ever in the state,” Singh claimed.

Importantly, for the first time drone cameras were used by the police to track the illegal arms unit and those running the trade in the jungles in the western MP district, neighbouring country’s cleanest city Indore.

 “The latest operation and subsequent probe have revealed that the three arrested men are accused in dozens of criminal cases in MP, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi-NCR, Telangana and Karnataka. The guns manufactured and concealed in the jungles were meant to be supplied to organized gangs in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Karnataka and poll-bound Rajasthan and Telangana states. The trio is on three days police remand, during which the grilling could lead to big disclosures. The National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against one of three arrested gunrunners,” Singh added.