Millennium Post

Two Munger-based arms dealers held

- PRATISHTHA NANGIA

NEW DELHI: Two arms trafficker­s after a brief chase near Azadpur-mukundpur road were arrested on Tuesday and police have recovered 35 semiautoma­tic pistols from them.

The accused, identified as Munger based operatives – Mohammad Manouar (26) and Shahid Alam (21). Police also recovered 69 magazines as well as four live cartridges of .32 caliber.

According to the report, the Special Cell unit tasked with investigat­ing the case got informatio­n on the gang which was allegedly involved in manufactur­ing and supplying illegal fire arms in Delhi and NCR region. “We had received a special tipoff about the whereabout­s of the accused. We also knew that Manouar had set up his operation in Delhi and eventually tracked him to Azadpur-mukundpur Road in the evening,” said an officer privy to the investigat­ion.

However, the trafficker­s found out about the police and bolted towards the nearby metro line. “Manouar whipped out a pistol and fired at Head Constable Ajay. Luckily he was wearing a bullet proof jacket during the time of the shooting. The accused was eventually apprehende­d,” the official added.

Police, during initial investigat­ion, claimed that Manouar revealed his involvemen­t in this illegal trade that he has been part of since the past three years and blamed Sonu, alleged to be the kingpin of the operation for luring him into this trade. “Sonu has been operating the inter-state syndicate from Malda, West Bengal and Munger, Bihar. Manouar and Alam were assigned the task of supplying the firearms to Delhi NCR and Western UP. For past last three years, Sonu has supplied more than 600 automatic high-quality illegal pistols in Delhi, NCR and western UP. He is also suspected to be operating an arms manufactur­ing module,” said DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav. NEW DELHI: BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday supported JNU Vice Chancellor's demand for placing an artillery tank on the university's campus to instil a sentiment of nationalis­m among students. Lekhi even proposed that students should be made to take oath of nationalis­m in institutio­ns like the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Lekhi rued the fact that the Vice Chancellor's demand was turned into a controvers­y.

She said: "On Wednesday was Kargil Divas, and we remember our martyrs on this day. In a university like JNU, where the Vice Chancellor asked for a tank to be put on display, that was made into a controvers­y by some people."

She said JNU students should take the following oath: "Whether we are alive or not, Mother, your glory shall live... the glory of Bharat Mata and our nationalis­m should always live." She said there were old aircraft on display in the school where her children studied, and they loved playing around them.

"Even after growing up, they would go to see the aircraft on display at the Air Force bases... The sentiment of nationalis­m is gained only by understand­ing the nation," the MP said.

"These institutio­ns are run on government money and if there are separatist sloganeeri­ng, or slogans like 'India will be broken' are raised, I think somewhere there is a problem with the administra­tion and ideology."

"If someone tries to change that, which is the Vice Chancellor (in this case), it is converted into an issue of nationalis­m," she said.

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