3 arms smugglers nabbed with 21 guns near CWG Village
NEW DELHI: Three alleged arms smugglers were arrested with 21 country-made guns near Commonwealth Games Village in east Delhi on Saturday afternoon, the police said on Monday.
On being confronted by the police, the suspects had allegedly tried to run towards the CWG Village with the bags containing the pistols, but were chased for several metres before being caught.
Pramod Kushwah, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said the weapons were procured from Sendhwa town in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh. “One of the suspects, Rakesh Rathor, has supplied a total of 500-600 pistols to criminals in Delhi-ncr and Rajasthan,” said Kushwah.
Police officials said they received a tip-off about the racket members smuggling guns to Delhi on Saturday. “We got to know that three men would be arriving near Commonwealth Games Village on NH-24 around 2.45pm on Saturday. We laid a trap and waited,” said Kushwah.
The three suspects allegedly arrived in a Santro car at around 3pm. Two of them stepped out of the car, while the third remained in the driver’s seat, said the DCP. The two men outside were carrying bags and appeared to be waiting for someone, Kushwah said.
“The duo began returning to their car after 10 minutes. It was at that moment that we confronted them. The two men tried to run away, but we chased and caught them. On searching their bags, 20 pistols were found,” said the DCP.
The driver too was nabbed and he was allegedly found carrying a pistol loaded with four bullets, the officer added.
The three men, identified as Rakesh Rathor, Kamlesh and Alok Jaiswal, have been arrested. The police said the trio had been running the illegal gun racket for at least three years. Rathor and Jaiswal have been previously booked under the arms act.
Meanwhile, Kamlesh’s criminal involvement is being checked with the local police in Madhya Pradesh.