Interstate arms smuggling racket busted, five held; 3 pistols seized

With the arrest of five persons, the city police today busted an interstate gang of weapon smugglers and recovered three pistols along with 30 live bullets from their possession. Those arrested were identified as Mohammad Akbar (32) of Vallah, Javed Khan (36) of Guru Nanak Vara, Qasim (27) of Kot Khalsa, Mukesh Kumar (26) of Ganganagar and Allmin Ansari (32) of Dashmesh Nagar.

Alam Vijay Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Law and Order, said acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Mohammad Akbar, Javed Khan and Qasim with a .32 bore pistol and 20 bullets. During their interrogation, the suspects revealed that they used to procure weapons from Mukesh and Almin Ansari. Following their disclosure, the police nabbed the duo near Railway quarters in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar and recovered two pistols and 10 live cartridges from their possession.

Vishaljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), said Mukesh used to bring illegal weapons from Rajasthan and supply these in several parts of the Punjab through Ansari.

He said Mukesh had six criminal cases, including of attempt to murder and Arms Act, registered against him in Rajasthan. All the suspects were did menial jobs, the ADCP said. They were also involved in illegal arms smuggling racket, the ADCP said. Investigation was in progress to ascertain how many weapons the suspects had supplied so far and who were their clients, the ADCP added. They would also be identified and arrested, ADCP said.