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Gujarat ATS busts arms licence racket, arrests seven
Gujarat ATS uncovered over 100 people buying firearms with fake licenses from Manipur and Nagaland, leading to seven arrests and ongoing investigations.
The Gujarat Police has detected over 100 people who bought firearms on the strength of counterfeit arms licences purportedly issued in Manipur and Nagaland, a senior officer of the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said on Tuesday.
Gujarat ATS deputy inspector general Sunil Joshi told reporters that seven people have been arrested in this connection.
The ATS has been investigating the case along with crime branch teams in Ahmedabad and Surat apart from special operations group (SOG) of several districts, he said.
Joshi said the ATS started the probe when ATS deputy superintendent of police SL Chaudhary received intelligence that there were six people from Gujarat who got weapons from some arms dealers in Haryana on the strength of arms licences purportedly issued in Manipur and Nagaland. Police Inspector N.R. Brahmbhatt led a team that conducted inquiries across multiple states to verify this information.
“Our investigation revealed that approximately 108 individuals from various districts of Gujarat had managed to acquire weapons through fraudulent means using fake arms licenses allegedly made in Nagaland and Manipur,” said a senior ATS official.
The arrested individuals Shelabhai Boliya, Vishal Pandya, Arjun Algotar, Dhairya Jariwala, Sadam Hussain, Brijesh alias Bittu Mehta, and Mukesh Bamba were all found carrying forged arms licences.
The investigation revealed that arms dealers from Nuh, Haryana, including Saukat Ali Chhotukhaan, Faruk Ali Chhotekhaan, Asif, and their associates, had been creating fake arms licenses for Gujarat residents for the past six years. These dealers reportedly sold revolvers, pistols, 12-bore guns, and ammunition to individuals possessing these fraudulent licenses, according to a statement issued by Gujarat ATS.
During the operation, Gujarat ATS formed teams that were dispatched to Nagaland, Manipur, and Haryana.
The teams have recovered three twelve-bore guns with 70 rounds of ammunition, two pistols with 59 rounds of ammunition and one revolver with 6 rounds of ammunition, it added. In all, 6 firearms and 135 rounds of ammunition have been seized, and a case has been registered under the Arms Act.
“We have identified the different modus operandi employed by this gang, including creating completely fake arms licenses, tampering with licences issued to other individuals, and manipulating old licence records,” the official said, adding that more weapons are likely to be recovered as the probe expands.
