Delhi Police Special Cell nabs 3 members of inter-state illegal firearms syndicate
Jul 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], 17 July : In a recent action by the Delhi Police Special Cell, three members of an inter-state illegal firearms syndicate have been arrested. A total of 15 good-quality pistols have been recovered from their possession, said police on Monday.
As per information, the three used to procure the pistols from a Madhya Pradesh-based arms supplier and supply the same to criminals in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
The three-person has been identified as Prashant Meena (21), Kamal Meena (27) and Gagan Saraswat (23). Both Prashant Meena and Kamal Meena are the resident of Dholpur, Rajasthan and the third one resides in Mathura, UP.
The recovered weapons include nine semi-automatic pistols (32 bore) with 18 magazines and six single-shot pistols.
There was information with the Special Cell/SR that gangsters and hardcore criminals in Delhi/NCR have been procuring sophisticated firearms from MP-based arms suppliers. After sustained efforts for more than four months, some of the members of this inter-state firearm syndicate were identified and tracked.
As per police, on July 14, 2023, specific information was received that two members of this arms syndicate, namely Prashant Meena and Kamal Meena, had procured a consignment of pistols from Khargone, MP, and brought the same to Delhi. As per further information, they would meet one UP-based arms trafficker near Vayu Sena Vihar on Suraj Kund Road in Delhi to deliver the pistols. Accordingly, a raiding party led by Inspr. Ranjeet Singh was constituted, and a trap was laid near Vaayu Sena Vihar, Suraj Kund Road, heading towards Sangam Vihar, Delhi. Prashant Meena and Kamal Meena were spotted coming at about 4:10 PM. They stopped and started waiting for someone and after 5-8 minutes, a person, whose name was later revealed as Gagan Saraswat, came and met both of the above.
Thereafter, all three were cornered and overpowered by the members of the police team. During the search, five pistols with five extra magazines were recovered from Prashant Meena, four pistols with four extra magazines were recovered from Kamal Meena, and six single-shot pistols were recovered from Gagan Saraswat.
On interrogation, it was revealed that the pistols were procured from an arms supplier in Khargone, MP, and were to be supplied to the criminals in Delhi/NCR, UP, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Prashant Meena has previously been involved in five cases, including four of arms trafficking and one of attempted murder in UP and Rajasthan. Kamal Meena is reviously involved in two cases under the NDPS Act in Rajasthan.
The accused also disclosed that they used to buy semi-automatic pistols from MP for Rs. 8,000/- per piece and single-shot pistols for Rs. 2,500/- per piece. They would sell semi-automatic pistols for Rs. 25,000/- to Rs. 30,000/- in Delhi and other states. They have further revealed that they had brought around 300 pistols from MP during the last two years and supplied the same to the criminals of Delhi/NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UP.
Further interrogation of the trio is in progress to identify the other members of the syndicate.
