Gunrunner held with automatic rifle, 40 pistols, 20 magazines

NEW DELHI: One improvised carbine (automatic rifle), 40 illegally made semi-automatic pistols and 20 pistol magazines were seized from an alleged illegal firearms supplier arrested after a brief chase in east Delhi’s Ghazipur Tuesday, the police said.

The arrested man, Irshad Khan, 34, is allegedly part of an interstate gang involved in sale of such weapons. The gang purchases these from illegal gun manufacturing factories in Madhya Pradesh and sells them in Delhi and adjoining states. Khan has supplied more than 100 such weapons last year, cops said.

According to the police, the firearms were hidden in a cavity of the CNG cylinder fitted in the car’s boot, which Khan was allegedly driving at the time. The opening of this specially made cavity was concealed under the iron strap used to fasten CNG cylinders in car boots, cops said.

“The car Khan was using to smuggle illegal firearms operates on diesel. The CNG cylinder fitted in the boot was mainly used for smuggling. Khan had created a cavity to hide firearms and avoid detection,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said.

The arrest came after the crime branch received information about a gunrunner who had procured huge quantity of firearms and would deliver it to someone in Ghazipur on Tuesday. “A team laid a trap at the Ghazipur roundabout. Around 2am, the suspect was spotted driving an i10 car and was flagged down. He sped towards the Ghazipur vegetable market. Our team intercepted the car and overpowered Khan,” Naik said.

The car was searched and weapons were found.

Khan’s interrogation revealed he got into the business after he met some criminals in Tihar jail while serving time in auto-lifting cases. “Khan purchased a pistol for ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 and sold it for ₹30,000 to ₹40,000, depending on its quality and client’s need. He said once a weapon was sold, the details of the supplier spread among others. Subsequent demand fuelled their business,” the DCP added.