NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old man who allegedly used to supply arms and ammunition to gangsters in Delhi and its neighbouring states has been arrested with illegal countrymade pistols, police said on Tuesday.
Besides five illegal pistols, 10 live cartridges and a motorcycle have also been seized from Ameer Ahmad, a resident of Kairana in Shamli district of the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, they said.
The accused confessed he allegedly supplied more than 50 pieces of illegal arms in Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the past five years, police said.
His involvement came to light on September 17 after the police arrested one Sunil with an illicit countrymade pistol and two live cartridges.
He allegedly disclosed that he had procured the seized arms and ammunition from a supplier in Kairana.
Later, a team was sent to Kairana to identify the supplier of an illegal weapon, the police said.
"On September 25, we received a tip-off that Ameer, who is an interstate arm and ammunition supplier, would come to deliver a huge cache of illicit arms and ammunition to a gangster in Najafgarh, near Dhaula Kuan. A trap was laid and the accused was apprehended while he was waiting for the consignee at the expected place of delivery with a black colour bag," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Devender Arya said.
During interrogation, Ameer disclosed he had procured the recovered illicit firearms and ammunition from one Bilal, a resident of Shamli, and had come to deliver it to a person connected with the gangsters of Najafgarh.
Ameer used to pay Rs.2,500 for each illegal countrymade firearm and Rs 300 for one cartridges to Bilal, and sell them at higher rates -- Rs 8,000 and Rs 500 respectively -- to criminals, the officer said.
Ameer used to earlier work as an iron welder at his hometown, but later shifted to illegal business of supplying weapon after he came in contact with some persons engaged in sale of countrymade pistols, the officer said.
He was earlier arrested by Kairana police in 2013 in NDPS (The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) act case, the officer added.