E-Paper
Dairy owner, driver among 3 held in arms smuggling case
The accused allegedly told the STF that they bought guns in Amritsar for ₹30,000-40,000 each and sold them in western UP for ₹80,000 to ₹1 lakh.
Prefer HTon Google
: A dairy owner, his driver and an employee working at his house and dairy were among three alleged members of an interstate arms-smuggling network arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Saharanpur, with the agency claiming that the trio had been procuring firearms and ammunition from Punjab and supplying them across western Uttar Pradesh for the past two years.
The three suspects — Asad, Ikram and Danish, all from Saharanpur district — were arrested around 6.40pm on Thursday from an orchard on the road from Bijli Ghar Tiraha towards Sherpur Pailo in Mirzapur police station area. The STF said they were allegedly planning to sell the weapons when its team intercepted them.
According to the STF, preliminary questioning revealed that Asad was the alleged key member of the group. Originally from Maheshwari Kalan village in Mirzapur, Saharanpur, he owns a house in Saharanpur and has an ancestral house and around 200 bighas of land in his village, where he also runs a dairy. Danish allegedly works as Asad’s driver and has been involved with him in illegal arms trafficking for around two years, while Ikram is employed by Asad and lives at his house and works at his dairy, the STF said.
The agency said the three allegedly travelled to Marhatta Gun House in Amritsar, Punjab, to procure firearms and cartridges before supplying them to buyers in western UP. The accused allegedly told the STF that they bought guns in Amritsar for ₹30,000-40,000 each and sold them in western UP for ₹80,000 to ₹1 lakh.
The agency said they had previously supplied illegal firearms in Saharanpur, Shamli and adjoining districts and had been engaged in the alleged arms trade for about two years.
The STF said the trio was allegedly preparing to make another arms deal when they were arrested. The operation followed intelligence inputs received over the past few days about an interstate gang active in illegal arms trafficking in western UP.
