Probe in firing incident leads cops to illegal arms factory in UP

An investigation into a neighbourhood quarrel in Sarai Rohilla led the Delhi Police to uncover a full-scale illegal arms manufacturing unit in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The police seized weapons, raw material for more than 250 pistols and machinery.

The breakthrough followed a case registered on the intervening night of August 11 and 12 when a 16-year-old juvenile allegedly opened fire at a youth, Shubham, following a quarrel over the purchase of an idol of

Lord Ganesha.

A person snatched the pistol used in the attack on the spot, while the juvenile managed to flee. He was detained the next day.

During questioning, he revealed that he had procured the weapon from a person, Vijay Kumar alias Bunty, a resident of Aligarh.

A team from the Sarai Rohilla police station, traced Bunty after days of raids and technical surveillance and arrested him on August 27, recovering cartridges from

his possession.

Bunty disclosed that he sourced weapons from Bijender Singh, alias Madhura (61), of Mathura.

Bijender was arrested on August 30, and a video of the manufacture of more than 70 firearms was recovered from his phone.

The probe then led the police to Hanvir, alias Hannu, a 60-year-old resident of Aligarh, who was allegedly running a clandestine arms factory in

two rooms.

On September 1, a raid was conducted, and the police seized six country-made pistols, 12 unfinished pistols, five live cartridges, raw material for over 250 pistols and equipment used for manufacturing.

According to investigators, Hanvir admitted during interrogation that he had been engaged in making illegal arms for the past 15-20 years, frequently shifting the location of his factory to evade detection. The police said he had sold more than 1,200 firearms in recent years.