5 held for running illegal arms factory in Ghaziabad

The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested five people, including a woman, for allegedly running an illegal arms manufacturing factory out of a house in Muradnagar and have formed teams to nab the two prime suspects, who are at large

The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested five people, including a woman, for allegedly running an illegal arms manufacturing factory out of a house in Muradnagar and have formed teams to nab the two prime suspects, who are at large.

HT Image

Among those arrested were Mohammad Mustafa, Mohammad Aslam Alam and Kaifi Alam --all natives of Munger in Bihar. Prime suspects Mohammad Zahiruddin and his nephew Mohammad Fayyaz, who is also Zahiruddin’s business partner, are on the run, said police.

Police have also arrested Zahiruddin’s wife Asgari and another nephew, identified as Mohammad Salman, for allegedly supplying illegal arms to nearby districts.

“Mustafa, Aslam and Kaifi are natives of Munger in Bihar, who were employed by the prime suspects for manufacturing illegal arms at the factory in Muradnagar. The workers said while they manufactured the arms, the two other arrested suspects supplied the weapons in nearby districts, especially to criminals,” said Pawan Kumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP).

Police said the factory was operated out of a house, which belongs to Zahiruddin, and that the manufacturing work was carried out in the basement of the house. Zahiruddin and his relatives brought in raw materials for manufacturing illegal arms and took the finished product for supplies, said police.

“Zahruddin obtained anticipatory bail in connection with a case registered against him at Meerut after a reward of ₹25,000 was announced for his arrest. He started this factory a couple of months ago and the workers started manufacturing arms in July,” said Kumar.

Following the arrests, police seized five pistols, 20 semi-finished pistols, 55 barrels used for making guns, 13 magazines, 77 cartridges of different bores and other manufacturing equipment from their possession.

Police said they are trying to get more details from the five suspects about the people who purchased the weapons.