Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have busted a three-member gang of gunrunners who were trying to smuggle illegal weapons in to the national Capital from Khargone, Madhya Pradesh by concealing them inside the door of an SUV. They were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police and 18 pistols were also recovered from them. Those arrested in this connection include a wanted kingpin of the trade who has been identified as Robin Singh, a resident of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Khargone and surrounding areas in Madhya Pradesh have emerged as new hub of firearms for criminals of Delhi-NCR as the earlier source Munger has been under strict vigil by agencies and several Munger-based smugglers have been arrested over the past few years.
The Special Cell, which has been tracking peddlers of illicit firearms, had on Wednesday been tipped off about a wanted gunrunner Robin Singh coming to Delhi in a Mahindra Bolero pickup along with his associates for supplying arms to intended receivers in the Capital.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Cell, Rajiv Ranjan, said there was information about the movement of gunrunner. Acting on the input, our team laid a trap on the Nullah Road, near New Ashok Nagar Metro station and in early afternoon hours, a pickup bearing UP registration number was intercepted. The occupants of the off-roader 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.
The accused were identified as Robin Singh (25), Dharmender Singh (25) and Inder Jeet (22) all residents of Aligarh, UP. The accused persons 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 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,” said Ranjan.
In July this year, the Special Cell had arrested one Dharmender who was and recovered 32 pistols from him. Dharmender was close aide of Robin Singh and after his arrest, they had resorted to extensive precautions while traveling to and from Khargone and never used to disclose their itinerary till the nth hour. Since the earlier method of pushing these firearms through couriers traveling by bus or train to Delhi was proving to be risky, Robin Singh decided that this time they would take the consignment in a SUV by cleverly hiding the firearms in the cavity of the doors. However, they could not escape our watchful eyes and got apprehended,” the DCP added.