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Over 2000 live cartridges recovered in Delhi ahead of Independence Day, 6 held
Police said the cartridges were of different types and could be used in rifles, pistols and country-made revolvers
Two men, who brought over 2,000 live cartridges to Delhi, and their four accomplices have been arrested after an auto rickshaw driver informed police about suspicious men near the city’s Anand Vihar bus terminal. The arrests were made in the run up to the Independence Day celebrations when police are on high alert.
Additional police commissioner (eastern range) said the interrogation of the two men led arrests of the four more persons, including Parikshit Negi, the owner of an arms and ammunition shop and a restaurant in Dehradun.
Police said they seized 2,252 live cartridges, which were delivered to a person in Lucknow. “As part of heightened security ahead of Independence Day, police were on high alert and maintaining extensive vigil. Around 6.30am on August 6, the driver informed police that he had seen two suspicious men carrying a heavy bag,” said Singh.
He added police acted swiftly and intercepted the two men with a trolley. “On seeing the police, the two got flustered, changed their way and started moving briskly. Police thoroughly checked their bag and recovered...including various types of imported ammunition,” said Singh.
Police said the cartridges were of different types and could be used in rifles, pistols and country-made revolvers and that they were prime facie meant for criminals. They were also probing a terror angle.
Police said Ajmal Khan and Rashid from Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district said they received the ammunition from a person in Dehradun to be delivered in Lucknow. “They disclosed that they also supplied similar consignments earlier too,” said Singh.
Police conducted raids in Lucknow, Jaunpur and Dehradun and arrested the other four accused between August 6 and 12. They added Negi was arrested from Dehradun and said he supplied thousands of such cartridges. Negi’s questioning led police to Kamran, a Delhi resident and Nasir, a resident of Roorkee.
“...[Negi] pilfered the bullets...and supplied it to criminals. On paper, they showed the bullets were transferred to the other licensed owners. Our investigation has revealed that a person lodged in Meerut jail is also involved in the racket,” said an investigating officer, requesting anonymity.
Illegal guns can be easily manufactured and are available in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. But it is difficult and also expensive to manufacture bullets. Most criminals use a network of arms shops to pilfer bullets. There have been cases of gun shop owners tampering with their records to show licensed gun owners purchasing additional bullets and selling them to criminals.
The Delhi Police this year asked licensed gun holders to submit certificates on how they used their quota of ammunition. They said gun shops would not be allowed to sell ammunition to the licensees unless they submitted the certificates.
