Two persons, including a juvenile, have been apprehended for procuring illegal weapons from Madhya Pradesh and then supplying them to the members of Neeraj Bawana gang in Delhi and its peripherals, said an official on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as Mohd. Sameer (19), a resident of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and a juvenile. Police have also recovered 10 pistols, including four semi-automatic pistols of .30 bore, two pistols of .32 bore and four single shot pistols of .315 bore, and a Maruti Ertiga car used in carrying firearms from the possession of the accused duo.
"There was an input that gangsters and hardcore criminals of Delhi-NCR have been procuring sophisticated firearms from Madhya Pradesh-based arms suppliers.
This information was further developed by the team. After efforts of more than four months, members of an inter-state illegal firearm syndicate were identified," said Alok Kumar, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).
On February 15, specific information was received that two active members of an arms trafficking syndicate namely Mohd. Sameer and a juvenile had procured a consignment of pistols from Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, and they had brought them to Delhi in the Ertiga car.
"Acting on the information, a trap was laid by the police team led by Inspectors Shiv Kumar and Jitender under the supervision of ACP Attar Singh. The duo arms traffickers were nabbed near NTPC Eco Park, Kalindi Kunj-Mithapur Road, Delhi.
A total of six pistols were recovered from Mohd. Sameer and four pistols were recovered from the juvenile," the DCP added. Upon questioning, both the arms traffickers have disclosed that they had procured recovered pistols from a notorious arms supplier in Khargone and brought the consignment in Delhi as per the directions of their Uttar Pradesh-based handler.
"Pistols were to be further supplied to the members of Neeraj Bawana gang in Delhi by them. The accused also revealed that they have already brought three more consignments of pistols during the last six months and further supplied the same to the members of Neeraj Bawana gang and other criminals in Delhi as directed by their handler," said the DCP.
"It has been observed that this is a new growing trend among the members of big gangs in Delhi-NCR to use juveniles in procuring and transporting firearms," said the official, adding that further investigation of the case is in progress to identify the other members of the syndicate.