Ghaziabad: National level sportsperson held for supplying illegal arms

According to the police, Panchal was in touch with a group of arms suppliers who were recently arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police. Four members of the group, headed by one Ajay Singh, were well versed in manufacturing countrymade weapons and supplied arms in the NCR, officials said.

The Ghaziabad police on Friday arrested a 26-year-old national level sportsperson for allegedly trading in illegal arms. The accused, Vicky Panchal, is a disciple of the Jeet Kune Do school of martial arts.

The accused, Vicky Panchal, was arrested with a cache of 17 countrymade weapons by a team of officers from the special operation group. (HT Photo)

The accused was arrested with a cache of 17 countrymade weapons by a team of officers from the special operation group.

According to the police, Panchal was in touch with a group of arms suppliers who were recently arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police. Four members of the group, headed by one Ajay Singh, were well versed in manufacturing countrymade weapons and supplied arms in the NCR, officials said.

“Two years ago, Panchal had invested a large sum in a money pooling scheme and suffered a loss of Rs 7-8 lakh. Since then, his financial condition has deteriorated and he could not even pay the interest (on the amount borrowed from the pool). So he joined hands with Ajay Singh and procured weapons from his gang to supply it to others in the region,” said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city).

The police said that during an initial query, Panchal admitted to having supplied nearly 40-50 .315-calibre illegal weapons to different groups in Delhi-NCR.

“I made a profit of at least Rs2,000 per weapon after setting aside the commission for Ajay’s gang. I supplied only to trusted customers who would not leak information about my trade. My martial arts academy in Loni was also not running well. Until last year, I had nearly 50 students but the strength has dropped to six students this year. So I decided to procure and supply weapons to earn money,” Panchal said.

“My customer base was growing as trusted customers sent their friends and acquaintances to me to buy weapons. There is already a big demand for such weapons in the NCR and western UP region,” he said.

The man says that he has a black belt in the Jeet Kune Do discipline of martial arts and had also participated in a national level championship held in Mumbai in 2014.

Meanwhile, the police said that they recovered 17 newly made weapons and arrested the accused from Ghaziabad junction while he was waiting to board a train.