Police bust interstate illegal firearms syndicate, arrests 2 with 15 pistols, 40 cartridges

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has busted an interstate illegal firearms syndicate and arrested its two key members from ISBT at Anand Vihar here where they had come to deliver a consignment, officials said on Thursday.

Shivam Sharma (24) and Krishan Kumar (22), both residents of Uttar Pradesh”s Aligarh were nabbed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police with 15 pistols and 40 live cartridges, they said.

The accused disclosed that they had procured the firearms from a Madhya Pradesh-based supplier and were scheduled to supply them to gangsters and criminals, police said, adding they have supplied over 600 firearms in Delhi NCR and adjoining states in the last four years.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said specific information was received that Shivam and Krishan had collected the consignment of firearms from an arms supplier in Madhya Pradesh and would arrive at ISBT Anand Vihar, on September 14 to hand over weapons to one of their contacts.

“A trap was laid and both were apprehended along with 15 illegal pistols and 40 live cartridges,” he said.

They have been booked under stringent provisions of the Arms (Amendment) Act 2019, having minimum punishment of 10 years which is extendable up to life imprisonment, police said.

When interrogated, the two disclosed that they procured firearms and ammunition from an arms manufacturer-cum- supplier in Madhya Pradesh, he added.

“The two regularly procured firearms from arms manufacturers in Madhya Pradesh and further supplied it to gangsters, hardened criminals and small arms peddlers in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan  for the last four years,” Kushwah said.

They purchased a semi-automatic pistol for Rs 7,000 and a single shot pistol for Rs 1,000 from Madhya Pradesh. They sold the semi-automatic pistol further for Rs 25,000 and the single shot pistol for Rs 4,000 to the criminals in Delhi-NCR,” he said.

Shivam has previously been arrested in criminal cases, including arms trafficking and theft in UP, police said, adding further investigation is underway to identify and arrest the backward and forward linkages of the syndicate.