Nuh emerges as ‘transit point’ for arms smuggling
Sumedha Sharma
Gurugram, June 2
Notorious for cow smuggling, frauds, sand mining and vehicle-lifting, Nuh district in the Mewat region is now emerging as the hub of illegal weapon smuggling.
More than 20 villages of the district have been smuggling weapons from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for three years, the police have said. Nuh serves as the “transit point” where illegal weapons are consolidated and then supplied across the NCR region.
Tip of the iceberg
What we see is just the tip of the iceberg. Several illegal gun factories exist in Rajasthan and UP. The police are working with officials to get details of such units. Soon, a crackdown will be launched. Varun Singla, nuh sp
According to the Nuh police, 95 illegal arms traders were arrested in 2022 and 34 till May 31 this year. The police registered 79 FIRs last year, seizing 167 pistols, 10 guns, 32 magazines and 227 cartridges. This year, 27 FIRs have been registered till now, while 39 “kattas” and 25 cartridges have been seized.
The police have busted three illegal gun factories, from where weapons were smuggled into Haryana. Last year, they had cracked down on two such units one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. This year, a factory in Madhya Pradesh was busted. In all, five persons were arrested.
| Police Files | ||
| Arrests | FIRs | |
| 2022 | 95 | 79 |
| 2023* | 34 | 27 |
| *Till May 31 | ||
Nuh SP Varun Singla said, “The district has become a ‘trading point’ for arms smuggling. The police have caught boys and young men plying this illegal trade…The MP factory that was busted this year was located in a secluded jungle.”
The police were led to the factory by an arms dealer arrested from Madhya Pradesh five days ago. The accused, identified as Gurdev Singh, allegedly sold weapons to gangsters across Delhi-NCR. He was arrested after a 10-hour-long operation as he kept on changing locations to evade arrest.
The SP said, “What we see is just the tip of the iceberg. Several such factories exist in Rajasthan and UP. The Nuh police are working with intelligence officials to get leads on such units. Soon, a massive crackdown will be launched.”
Last year, the police cracked down on two illegal gun factories one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. This year, a factory in Madhya Pradesh was busted.
