Police arrest three, including a woman, seize 30 illegal firearms

A cache of 30 illegal firearms have been recovered from three alleged arms dealers, including a woman, police said on Friday. Among the seized weapons are two carbines, two revolvers and 26 pistols. The pistols had ‘Made in Japan’ or ‘Made in USA’ engraved on them.

However, despite the claims of some of these weapons being made in foreign, they were all manufactured in Badwani district of Madhya Pradesh. They were meant to be sold to criminals in Delhi, NCR and Punjab, police said.

“The carbines were purchased for ₹50,000 each. The arrested persons shelled out ₹20,000 for each of the pistols and revolvers,” said PS Kushwaha, DCP (special cell). These weapons were to be sold at profit margins of anywhere between ₹10,000 and ₹25,000 each.

The arrested have been identified as 30-year-old woman Miskin, and her male colleagues, Jabir, 30, and Balu, 35. While no past criminal cases against them have surfaced so far, police alleged they had smuggled weapons to the city in the past too.

The arrests happened after a special cell team was tipped off about their arrival in the city on Friday morning. A trap was laid near GTB Hospital in Dilshad Garden and the accused were nabbed around 8am just after they got off an e-rickshaw.

They were allegedly carrying one bag each and a large truck battery with them. Each of these items was searched and revealed weapons concealed inside them. “This is probably the first time we have come across weapons being smuggled by emptying the insides of a vehicle battery,” said an investigator.

Miskin had allegedly entered the crime world after her first husband died and she married another man, who had criminal cases against him. The other two accused are farmers who took to alleged arms smuggling as they were finding it difficult to make ends meet.