Delhi Police busts interstate gunrunning racket, recovers 18 firearms; ‘kingpin’ among eight held

NEW DELHI: (Aug 4) Eight suspects linked with an interstate arms smuggling syndicate, including the alleged kingpin, have been arrested and 18 illegal firearms, additional magazines and live cartridges have been seized following an extensive operation by Delhi Police’s Special Cell, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused were allegedly part of a network that procured sophisticated semi-automatic pistols and country-made firearms from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and supplied them to criminals in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, police said.

“The syndicate used encrypted social media applications, virtual numbers and fake online identities to coordinate with suppliers, traffickers and buyers while concealing identities of its members,” a senior police officer said.