NEW DELHI: Ahead of Independence Day celebrations, the Delhi Police have nabbed a gang of arms peddlers and recovered more than 2000 live cartridges in Anand Vihar area.
During checking, in view of heightened security in the run-up to August 15, cops of East Delhi Police spotted two suspects with a trolley bag walking towards a parking lot on the early morning of August 6.
When the duo spotted cops, they got flustered, changed their way and started moving briskly. Acting swiftly, police personnel on patrolling duty intercepted them. On questioning, they started making various excuses, which led to further suspicion.
When the patrolling team searched their trolley bags, it recovered 2251 live cartridges of various brands, including some foreign ones.
The suspects have been identified as Ajmal Khan and Rashid alias Lallan, both residents of Suetha Kalan village of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP), East Delhi, Priyanka Kashyap said the interrogation of the two men led to the arrests of four more persons, including Parikshit Negi, the owner of an arms and ammunition shop and a restaurant in Dehradun.
The police have registered a case under the Arms Act.
“On sustained interrogation, accused persons disclosed they have received this ammunition from a person in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, and the same was to be delivered to one person in Lucknow. Accused persons also disclosed that they had already supplied similar consignments 4-5 times in the past,” the officer disclosed.
Police conducted raids in Lucknow, Jaunpur and Dehradun and arrested the other four accused between August 6 and 12.
Negi was arrested from Dehradun, officials said, adding that he supplied thousands of such cartridges. Negi’s questioning led the police to Kamran, a Delhi resident and Nasir, a resident of Roorkee.
“East District police are on high alert and extensive vigil is being maintained in the area especially at vital installations, market places and other places of high footfall areas etc,” the DCP stated.