Three persons have been arrested for allegedly secretly smuggling weapons into the national capital from Madhya Pradesh, police said today.
The accused have been identified as Robin Singh (25), Dharmender Singh (25) and Inder Jeet (22) all residents of Aligarh.
The accused, which includes a wanted kingpin (Robin) of the trade, have a history of gunrunning, and were held by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Wednesday, when they were trying to smuggle in weapons from Khargone by concealing them in the door of an SUV, police said, adding, 18 pistols were recovered by them.
The Special Cell which has been tracking peddlers of illicit firearms had received a tip off that wanted gunrunner Robin would be coming to Delhi in a SUV along with his associates for supplying arms.
"Acting on the input, our team laid a trap on the Nallah Road, near New Ashok Nagar Metro Station and in early afternoon hours, a Bolero vehicle bearing UP registration number was intercepted. The occupants of the car were overpowered and apprehended.
"As many as 18 illegal pistols of 7.65 calibre, which were concealed in the cavity of the gate of the SUV, where the window glasses rolls down, were recovered," DCP (Special Cell) Rajeev Ranjan.
The trio were produced before the court and their PC Remand was obtained, police said.
"Robin Singh, who was wanted in two separate cases by Special Cell revealed that during the last two years, he was in touch with various firearm manufacturers of Khargone and had procured over 250 weapons from them for onward sale in Delhi and NCR," Ranjan said.
Further investigation of the case is in progress. Several new leads into the Khargone/Khandwa illegal firearm hub are expected with this major arrest of the wanted kingpin, he added.
Khargone and surrounding areas in Madhya Pradesh has emerged as new hub of firearms amongst the criminals of Delhi NCR as the earlier source Munger in Bihar has been under strict watch of the agencies and several Munger-based smugglers have been arrested over the past few years, police said.
In July this year, the Special Cell had arrested one Dharmender who was and recovered 32 illicit pistols from him. Dharmender was close aide of Robin Singh and after his arrest, they had resorted to extensive precautions while travelling to and from Khargone and never used to disclose their itinerary till the last minute.
