Two held in illegal arms deals

New Delhi: A man has been arrested for allegedly running an illegal arms factory at his house in northeast Delhi's Karwal Nagar, while another person has been held on the charge of buying weapons from him, police said on Monday.

The accused have been identified as Iqbal, a native of Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, and Raj Kartik, a resident of Delhi's Madangir, they said. Based on a tip-off, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch laid a trap near Ram Prastha crossing bus stand on November 27 and arrested Iqbal, a senior police officer said. 

A semi-automatic carbine, a sophisticated semi-automatic pistol and seven live cartridges were seized from him, the officer said. During interrogation, Iqbal said that he used to obtain raw materials from local markets and assemble them at his residence. 

The accused used to supply those to criminals operating in NCR and adjoining states, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said. Iqbal has, so far, supplied more than 25 carbines, 50 semi-automatic pistols and more than 100 country-made pistols to several criminals in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, he said. 

Three country-made pistols along with six live rounds and two used rounds were found during the raid. Raw materials including springs, barrels, magazines, several unfinished and semi-finished firearms, and instruments used in manufacturing were seized, he said. 

Investigation revealed that Iqbal used to sell semi-automatic carbine for Rs one lakh to Rs 1.5 Lakh, semi-automatic pistol for Rs 30,000 to 40,000 and country made pistols were sold for Rs 5,000 each, the DCP said. 

Subsequently, Raj Kartik was held near Chirag Delhi on Saturday and one semi-automatic pistol along with three live cartridges, sold to him by Iqbal, were seized from him, he said. Kartik was a member of a gang run by his distant relative Shakti Naidu, who along with his accomplices was arrested in connection with a dacoity of Rs 8 crore near Moolchand flyover, the officer said. 

According to police, Iqbal was arrested in 2014 as well and had made contacts with various criminals of Delhi-NCR who demanded weapons from him. After coming out of jail, he started supplying the weapons as per their demands, police said.