New Delhi: Four held for allegedly supplying illegal arms ahead of polls

Four men were arrested in two different operations here for allegedly supplying illegal arms, days before polling in the national capital, officials said Thursday. A total of 64 pistols, one small gun and 60 live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused, they said.

The accused were identified as Bachchu Singh (55), a resident of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Salve (35), a resident of Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh, Ranjit Singh (25), a resident of Dhaulpur in Rajasthan and Nakshe Lal (21), a resident of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, they said. "In the first operation, police arrested Bachchu and Salve on Monday from near Mathura Road, Nizamuddin railway station. Total 35 pistols and 60 live cartridges were recovered from their possession," PS Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said.

During investigation, it was revealed that Bachchu was released from Khargone jail in November 2018. He was involved in more than seven cases in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, he said. It was also revealed that Bachchu, along with his associates, had opened his own illegal arms factory at his farm in the village and his factory was busted by police with huge recovery of illegal firearms, the DCP said.

Thereafter, he started procuring illegal firearms from Khargone and other places in Madhya Pradesh to supply in Western UP and Delhi, he said. In another operation, on the intervening night of Sunday and Saturday, Ranjit was apprehended from ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, Ring Road, along with 20 pistols, the officer said. On his instance, his associate Lal was arrested on Tuesday from near Mainpuri Bus Terminal in Uttar Pradesh and 9 pistols and one small gun were recovered from him, police said.

During investigation, it was revealed that Ranjit used to procure the firearms from the gun runners of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. After collecting the guns, he used to supply them to various parts of North India, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, they said. During interrogation, Ranjit said that two days earlier, he had collected a consignment of firearms from Khargone and had come to Delhi to deliver it, police added. Delhi goes to polls in the sixth phase on May 12.