Delhi Police bust cross-border arms racket, 10 arrested

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted a major international arms trafficking module with links to Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, arresting 10 key operatives and recovering a cache of sophisticated foreign-made weapons, an official said on Wednesday.

The module, allegedly operating from the walled city of Old Delhi, was part of an organised cross-border network supplying illegal arms to criminal syndicates across Delhi-NCR and other states, they said.

A total of 21 firearms, including a Czech-made sub-machine gun (SMG) and 20 high-end semi-automatic pistols, along with 200 live cartridges, were seized during the operation.

Police said the weapons included PX-5.7 pistols -- typically used by special forces -- Stoeger pistols from Turkiye, PX-3 pistols from China, Shadow CZ pistols from the Czech Republic, besides Beretta (Italy), Taurus (Brazil) and Walther (Germany) pistols.

According to investigators, the arms were sourced from Pakistan and smuggled into India through the Indo-Nepal border using covert routes before being distributed through a network of handlers and couriers.

"The accused were in direct contact with handlers based in Nepal and Bangladesh, who procured weapons from Pakistan. The consignment was then routed into India and supplied to various criminal elements," a senior police officer said.

Police said the traffickers used encrypted messaging applications, Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls and frequently changed SIM cards and mobile devices to evade detection. Payments were routed through hawala channels.

The accused have been identified as Rahil (37), Hasim (45), Saim (24), Sonu Gupta (31), Ghanshyam Sharma (26), Waseem Malik (39), Nishant Arora (34), Nawab (31), Md Nauman (32) and Md Naushad (37), hailing from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas.

The crackdown followed sustained technical surveillance and human intelligence inputs, with multiple raids conducted between March 13 and March 24 across Delhi-NCR and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Police said Rahil, a resident of Old Delhi, was a key operative of the module and had allegedly supplied 70-75 sophisticated firearms over the past several months on the directions of the kingpin Shahbaz Ansari.

Ansari, an interstate arms trafficker wanted in multiple cases including one being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is believed to be operating from Bangladesh after jumping interim bail.

During the operation, one of the accused, Sonu Gupta, allegedly attempted to open fire at the police team but was overpowered. In another instance, accused Naushad tried to flee and brandished a firearm before being apprehended after a brief scuffle.

Police said the densely populated Jama Masjid area was being used as a transit and concealment hub due to its narrow lanes and heavy footfall.

Further investigation is underway to trace backward and forward linkages of the network and identify other associates involved in the trafficking chain. PTI