Illegal gun-manufacturing unit busted, four arrested

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has busted an illegal gun-manufacturing unit operating in Rajasthan's Bharatpur and arrested four people in connection with the incident, the police said on Monday.

The accused were identified as Talim Khan (25), Najar Hussain (33), Juber Khan (32) -- residents of Bharatpur -- and Nauman (35), a resident of Nuh in Haryana, they said.

On September 13, the police received inputs that members of an illegal firearms syndicate would come to Dwarka's Chhalwa area to deliver a huge consignment of illegal firearms to someone at Najafgarh, the police said.

A trap was laid and four members of the gang were apprehended from the Dwarka-Chhawla road while they were travelling in a car, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajit Kumar Singla said.

Ten good-quality countrymade pistols, 10 live cartridges and a huge amount of material used in making weapons were seized from their possession, the officer said.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they had been supplying illegal firearms to various gangs of criminals in Delhi-NCR for the last four years, he added.

A raid was also carried out at Ghadijaan Pahadi in the Mewat region of Bharatpur district, during which the illegal arms-manufacturing unit was unearthed, Singla said.

"The unit was located on the top of Ghadijaan Pahadi, from where anyone approaching the place could be seen from a distance of almost three kilometres. The unit itself was well hidden inside a clump of trees and shrubs. The workshop was kept locked at all times and was opened only when the gang members assembled to manufacture weapons," the officer said.

None of the accused had any previous criminal record, the police said, adding that those who had procured firearms from the gang were being identified.