Delhi Police busts two inter-state illegal firearms syndicates; 4 from Punjab held, 18 pistols recovered

PTI

New Delhi, January 16

Ahead of the Republic Day, Delhi Police’s Special Cell busted two inter-state illegal firearms syndicates in the city with the arrest of four arms suppliers, officials said on Monday.

Rohit Kumar (26), Pawan Kumar (28), Sunny (21) and Harshdeep (19), who hail from Punjab, have been involved in arms trafficking for over four years, they said, adding 18 pistols were recovered from their possession.

The accused sourced the firearms from Madhya Pradesh and supplied in Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) PS Kushwah said, "A specific information was received on January 13 following which three accused -- Rohit, Pawan and Harshdeep -- were apprehended at Barapullah Road near auto stand, Nizamuddin Railway Station, when they were exchanging firearms.” The fourth accused, Sunny, the handler of Harshdeep, was arrested from near Nizamuddin Railway Station, he added.

“Arrested firearms suppliers had received consignments of recovered pistols from two firearms suppliers of Sendhwa and Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh. Sunny and Harshdeep had procured pistols from an arms supplier of Burhanpur. Rohit and Pawan had procured pistols from a person named Sardar of Sendhwa," Kushwah said.

Interrogation revealed that the accused used to carry new handsets and new SIM cards every time. After collecting the consignments of firearms, they used to travel by bus from Indore to their respective destinations and their modus operandi was to frequently change the buses on the way, he said.

“Sunny has further disclosed that he had procured pistols to avenge the attack on his brother in November 2022 by the associates of SK Kharod, a gangster, who is also associated with a university's students organisation. He had already supplied firearms to the gangsters and criminals in Punjab," the police officer said.

Accused Sunny was previously involved in a case of attempt to murder and robbery in Punjab's Patiala in 2021, police said, adding further investigation is underway. AMP