Nikhil Bhardwaj
Ludhiana, August 5
The Ludhiana police have busted an inter-state network of illegal weapon supply with the arrest of a 19-year-old alleged arms supplier and seized nine weapons from his possession. He had been supplying arms to the members of notorious Bambiha gang.
The suspect has been identified as Raja Singh, a resident of Khargone, MP.
Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, DCP (Crime) Harmeet Hundal, ADCP Rupinder Sran and CIA in-charge Inspector Beant Juneja addressed a press conference regarding the matter on Saturday.
Sidhu said gangster Gurvir Singh, alias Guri, a key member of the Bambiha gang, who was arrested by the AGTF in May this year, was brought on production warrant from the Patiala jail by the Ludhiana police on July 28. During his questioning, a .32 bore pistol with two live cartridges were seized.
Guri, the main shooter of the Bambiha gang, also stated that Raja of MP had been supplying illegal weapons to the gang in Punjab for a long time and several weapons were already recieved by the gang members in past years.
The CP said special teams were formed and a raid was conducted in MP from where Raja was nabbed.
Raja’s arrest led to the recovery of two .30 bore pistols and six .32 bore pistols, one of the major recovery made by the city police.
“Interestingly, the seized weapons are being manufactured by Raja and his family at their home in MP. These are lookalike of Chinese star quality weapons. It is difficult for a layman to recognise if the weapons are manufactured in China or in India,” he said.
ADCP Rupinder Sran said with the recovery of a huge cache of arms, the police probe was still on to bust the entire network and several suspects were still under scanner whose arrest may peel off the further layers of illegal arms supply network.
Police had chased Guri last year but he escaped
CIA in-charge Inspector Beant Juneja said the city police had tried to chase gangster Guri on August 15 last year but he managed to escape through the fields while leaving his Ford Endeavour on a road. Intoxicating tablets and bullets were seized from the abandoned vehicle of the gangster. A month ago, he was nabbed by the Punjab Police. Guri has been facing 12 FIRs, including of murder, attempt to murder and under the Arms Act.
Shubham Mota gang member arrested with two pistols
Meanwhile, the CIA wing nabbed a member of the Shubham Mota gang and seized two pistols, a . 32 bore and a .315 bore guns, along with five live cartridges, from him on Saturday. The suspect has been identified as Kunal Sharma, alias Kamby (23), of New Kundan Puri. Notably last month nine pistols were seized from other members of the gang by the city police.
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