Ghaziabad: Arms supplier from Muzaffarnagar held with 31 countrymade guns

The police said they recovered 31 countrymade weapons and 16 live cartridges that were to be delivered to the buyer on Monday.

The Ghaziabad police on Monday arrested an alleged arms supplier from Muzaffarnagar who had come to Sahibabad to allegedly deliver a cache of newly developed arms and live cartridges to an unidentified contact.

Officers said that the bigger weapons are generally sold for Rs20,000 apiece while the smaller ones, shaped like pistols, are sold for Rs10,000 each. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The police said they recovered 31 countrymade weapons and 16 live cartridges that were to be delivered to the buyer on Monday.

A team from the Sihani Gate police station nabbed Mohammad Ilyas, the accused, from the crossing at the Karhera exit early Monday morning. The police said that Ilyas is a resident of Muzaffarnagar, where he owns and runs a grocery shop that he also uses as a front to sell arms to ‘regular customers’.

“The accused brought the weapons and cartridges, which we found were manufactured at an illegal arms factory owned by one Mobin, who is also a co-accused in the case. Mobin had told Ilyas to deliver the arms to a contact in Ghaziabad and was to give him the identity of the contact once he reached Ghaziabad,” Manish Mishra, the assistant superintendent of police, said.

However, before Mobin could give him the information, the police nabbed Ilyas along with the cache of illegal weapons.

Officers said that the bigger weapons are generally sold for Rs20,000 apiece while the smaller ones, shaped like pistols, are sold for Rs10,000 each.

Sources said that illegal countrymade pistols are generally manufactured from spare parts of trucks, especially, the lower end of the steering gear, which are shaped into barrels as they are strong and can withstand the firepower. The illegal weapons are then shaped by the manufacturers with the help of heat generated in a furnace.

There have been several instances wherein the police have nabbed arms suppliers in Ghaziabad.

In April, the police arrested a man who was carrying 12 pistols and 11 magazines, and had come to Ghaziabad from Muzaffarnagar to deliver weapons.

In January, the Ghaziabad police arrested two persons from Shatabdipuram and recovered three illegal pistols and 600 semi-built magazines (used to store cartridges in weapons) from their possession.

“Ilyas has also been to jail earlier in connection with supplying and manufacturing arms. We suspect that the accused was on his way to meet Mobin in Pasonda and the purchaser was to be identified later on. Our teams have launched a search for Mobin, who is presently absconding,” Mishra said.