With the arrest of a gun runner, the Delhi Police Special Cell claimed to have busted an interstate arms syndicate.
Eight semi-automatic pistols and 10 rounds of live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused at the time of his arrest on November 23.
Identified as Sonu, the key gun runner of the cartel, who used to procure the illicit weapons from suppliers in Madhya Pradesh, would sell them to gangsters and other hardcore criminals.
The firearm syndicate is involved in supplying guns and ammunition to criminals in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the police said on Tuesday.
According to the police, the guns seized from Sonu were bought from Ramesh Sardar and were to be delivered to a man named Alam in Delhi.
Efforts are being made to identify the other members of the syndicate, the police added.
Sonu was nabbed from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi on November 23 while he was about to deliver the consignment of semi-automatic pistols to Alam. The police had laid a trap where Sonu was supposed to arrive on the basis of an intel.
When he was intercepted by the police party, the gun runner tried to escape pointing a gun at the police team but was overpowered by the raiding team.
A case under the relevant provisions of law has been registered at PS Special Cell in this regard, the police said further.
Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the accused Sonu has so far supplied over 40 pistols in Delhi and UP in the past one year. A native of UP’s Hapur, Sonu is a habitual offender involved in more than half a dozen cases of robbery using firearms, attempt to murder, drug trafficking, and planning of dacoity in the Ghaziabad and Amroha districts of UP.
The accused disclosed that he used to buy a pistol for Rs 8,000 from MP and further sold for Rs 25,000.
Further probe is underway in the case, and efforts are on to identify and trace the forward and backward linkages of the syndicate, the police said.