Man running weapons arms manufacturing unit arrested in Hathras

Police arrested a 30-year-old man on Thursday night for allegedly running a weapons manufacturing unit from a house in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras under the guise of making locks

Police arrested a 30-year-old man on Thursday night for allegedly running a weapons manufacturing unit from a house in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras under the guise of making locks. Police conducted a raid at the unit after a man, who was arrested on March 19 with at least 25 illegal firearms, gave away the name of his close aide during interrogation.

Gurugram, India - March. 25, 2022: Gurugram police presents a 30-year-old man, arrested for allegedly running an illegal weapon manufacturing unit from his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, during a press conference, in Gurugram, India, on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The suspect was identified as Abhishek alias Jeetu (identified by his first name). Police said for the last six months, he had taken a room on rent in Sadabad in Hathras with forged documents and was living with a fake identity to evade arrest.

Jeetu told the landlord that he manufactured locks and sold them in Aligarh, but he used to manufacture illegal weapons. A police team was sent to Hathras on Thursday night, which arrested the suspect.

During the raid, police found raw materials used for manufacturing locks kept in the house. Various items, including tools and equipment used in making weapons and one sample weapon, was recovered from the suspect.

Police said Jeetu and his gang members were involved in supplying at least 462 weapons in Gurugram last year.

According to police, Jeetu was booked for at least a dozen cases of robbery, dacoity and snatching between 2015 and 2018 and sent to jail several times. During questioning, Jeetu revealed that in 2015, he was lodged in Firozabad jail in a case of robbery. In 2018, he and his accomplice were put in Aligarh jail for another robbery, where Jeetu met a criminal who dealt with arms. When Jeetu and the other criminal were out on bail, Jeetu allegedly started supplying weapons to him in Aligarh.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said after Jeetu was bailed out in 2018, he and his accomplices started supplying country-made weapons after manufacturing them in different states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana , Delhi-NCR and Punjab.

“Jeetu is the mastermind of the gang. His role was to manufacture weapons while at least three other members were involved in the supply of the firearms,” said the ACP.

Sangwan said on March 19, they arrested Abhishek alias Gabbar alias Kalu (20), a native of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh from Panchgaon Chowk on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway, for smuggling 25 country-made firearms and ammunition from Uttar Pradesh and supplying them to prospective buyers in Delhi-NCR. “He was a close aide of Jeetu. He revealed details of the trade and names of the other gang members,” he said.

Police said Jeetu used to manufacture weapons for sale in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and has sold over 2,000 arms in the last two years. “Jeetu has been booked for a dozen cases of robbery, dacoity, police encounter, possession of illegal weapons, and has cases under the Gangster Act registered in UP and Bihar,” he said.

Sangwan said the cost of a county-made pistol is nearly ₹1,000, which Jeetu sold for ₹15,000 and sometimes for ₹18,000. He used to give commission to his close aides to supply arms and ammunition and earned nearly ₹3 lakh a month.

Police said they arrested another supplier, identified as Sunil Kumar (25) of Rampur in Aligarh, from Ghaziabad in and recovered one country-made pistol from his possession.