Stricter law, police crackdown helped cut illegal arms supply
In 2021, Capital saw 545 crimes in which perpetrators used firearms; the number was 602 in 2020 and 670 in 2019
NEW DELHI: A crime involving one or multiple firearms was reported every 16 hours in Delhi in 2021, even as the use of weapons in crimes such as murder, attempt to murder, dacoity or robbery saw a decline from the previous two years – 2020 and 2019 – showed Delhi Police’s annual data for 2021 presented on Thursday by police commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
In 2021, Delhi witnessed 545 crimes in which the alleged perpetrators used firearms, mostly illegal guns manufactured at unauthorised firearms manufacturing units based in Madhya Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh and Bihar’s Munger. In 2020, firearms were used in 602 crimes in Delhi and the number of such crimes was 670 in 2019, the data shows.
The city police arrested 3,527 people in 2,923 cases related to use of firearms or possessing such weapons in 2021. A total of 2,074 firearms and 8,939 cartridges were seized from them during the year, the data shows.
Senior police officers have attributed the decline in the trend of use of illegal weapons in crimes reported in Delhi to persistent crackdown on gangs of illegal gunrunners and invocation of the amended Arms Act that enables the police to keep such criminals in jails for longer and term, and deny an easy bail.
They also said that besides enabling local gangs perpetrate heinous crimes, uninhibited supply of arms and weapons are a threat to the safety the city residents.
The Arms Act was amended in 2019, and now under section 25(8) people involved in illegal trafficking of firearms and ammunition may be punished for at least 10 years. Earlier, the maximum punishment under the law was three years. Between 2020 and 2021, teams of the Special Cell -- police unit that handles terrorism, gangsters and organised crimes related cases --- arrested 31 gunrunners and booked them under section 25 (8) of the Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019. A total of 271 illegal firearms and more than 700 cartridges were seized from them.
All the arrested people were members of organised syndicates that are involved in manufacturing, procurement, and sale of illicit firearms to criminals in Delhi and neighbouring states, said a special cell police officer, who was part of many operations leading to the arrests of gunrunners and recovery of arms and ammunition.
“The clients of these arrested unauthorised arms dealers are associates of gangsters such as Kapil Sangwan, Neeraj Bawana, Sunil Tajpuriya alias Tillu, Kala Jatheri, Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and many more who are operating their gangs in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Some of these gunrunners were also arrested earlier but they got bail soon, and resumed their trade,” the officer said.
The interrogation reports of some of the arrested gunrunners show that many of them supplied 500 to 1,500 weapons to criminals in Delhi and its adjoining states in the past three to five years. One such arrest in January – of Shakil alias Sherni who was a key supplier of guns to Kapil Sangwan gang – also led to the busting of an Aligarh-based illegal guns manufacturing unit that produced five pistols every day, and supplied nearly 1,000 guns to criminals in Delhi and other states each year.
On September 3, 2021, the Special Cell officers arrested a Mewatbased arms dealer, 39-year-old Ishab (first name), with 15 pistols and 30 cartridges. His interrogation revealed that he had supplied over 500 firearms to criminals in Delhi-ncr between 2018 and 2021. Similarly, a recently arrested gunrunner, Mohammad Kasim, was active for over 15 years and supplied nearly 500 firearms to criminals in Delhi-ncr in the past three years, the officer said.
Last month, the Special Cell arrested Haji Shamim, who is infamous as “Shamim Pistol” among criminals, has been active for over 10 years and his gang is one of the key suppliers of firearms to criminals in Delhi-ncr. His association with terrorist outfits active in J&K also emerged during investigation of social activist, Sushil Pandit’s foiled assassination bid last year.
The clients of these arrested unauthorised arms dealers are associates of many top gangsters across the region. POLICE OFFICER WITH THE SPECIAL CELL
How the new law helped
In mid-december 2019, the central government enacted the amended Arms Act. As per section 25(8) of the Arms (Amendment) Act, “whosoever involves in or aide in the illicit trafficking of firearms and ammunition in contravention of sections 3, 5, 6, 7 and 11 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.”
Now, the police are invoking this section against repeat offenders as well members of large illegal arms syndicates. As a result, the special cell alone arrested and booked 31 gunrunners in 18 cases in the next two years. The other units and local police also invoked the amended law against arms dealers and suppliers but the data on their arrests is not available.