Ghaziabad arms supplier held from IGI airport in Delhi

The suspect was identified as Jahiruddin Raji, who is native of Meerut and has been in the arms manufacturing business for about a decade now, police said.

The crime branch of the Ghaziabad police arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly manufacturing and supplying illegal arms across western Uttar Pradesh. The police said that the suspect was trying to flee to Dubai and was nabbed from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi after a lookout circular was issued upon information.

45-year-old Jahiruddin Raji was nabbed from IGI airport in Delhi on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/ HT)

The suspect was identified as Jahiruddin Raji, who is native of Meerut and has been in the arms manufacturing business for about a decade now, police said. He was also wanted in connection with cases after illegal arms factories were busted in Muradnagar in September last year.

“Raji, who is illiterate, was arrested from the airport after a lookout circular was issued. He began indulging in crime by supplying arms and later set up his own illegal factories in Meerut and Ghaziabad. During questioning, he told us that due to the continuous police pressure for his arrest, he was trying to flee to Dubai and wanted to stay with some of his relatives there,” said Diksha Sharma, superintendent of police (crime).

The police said that Raji used to procure garments from Delhi and Meerut and used to sell them in states such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha before he joined the illegal arms business.

“Thereafter, Raji met one Sadullah in Munger district of Bihar, who introduced him to the world of illegal arms. Initially, he used to smuggle two to three weapons to Meerut by hiding them in cloth pieces. He used to make about ₹8,000-10,000 per weapon. He smuggled illegal arms for about three years and found it profitable and later decided to set up a factory after purchasing a plot in Muradnagar,” said a police investigator.

Raji used to procure components from Munger and Meerut and used to assemble the illegal weapons.

“The man used to supply illegal weapons through his employees and these were primarily supplied in western UP. We have come to know about some of his clients and more details will be gathered soon. We will also probe the properties he has amassed over the years and will take stringent action,” SP Sharma added.

Raji set up two factories in Muradnagar but they were busted last year by the Ghaziabad police and some of his accomplices were nabbed. However, he managed to flee and had been avoiding arrest since then, police added.