Three of interstate ammunition syndicate arrested in Delhi

Three people have been arrested in connection with an interstate illicit ammunition pilferage and trafficking syndicate and 1250 live cartridges and vehicles used to ferry the cargo were recovered from Hari Nagar Ashram here on Saturday.

A father-son duo - Praveen Kumar Verma and son Prateek - who were running the syndicate along with a receiver of ammunition - Sonu Singh - were arrested, said the police in a statement.

"The duo was arrested from near Hari Nagar Ashram along with 800 live cartridges of 0.315 bore, a car and a bullet motorcycle. 450 additional cartridges of 7.65 mm were also recovered from their residence in a subsequent raid," the statement said.

According to the police, preliminary interrogation revealed that the syndicate used to supply over 3,500-4,000 cartridges per month to his contacts in Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, MP and NCR.

"Praveen had a gun shop in Firozabad district of UP, whose license was cancelled in the year 2007. Since then, he has been procuring cartridges from his network of licensed dealers and selling it in Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, MP and Delhi/NCR," added the statement.

Prateek has an ITI Diploma in Electrician trade but he has been assisting his father in the illicit business since early 2019.

The receiver Sonu is also allegedly involved in another ammunition syndicate.