HYDERABAD: Hyderabad police on Thursday busted a gang of seven, including one from Jammu & Kashmir, that was operating a fake arms license racket in Hyderabad. The gang would issue fake gun licences by forgery and affixing fake seals, police said.
They said Altaf Hussain, a resident of the Rajouri district in J&K, was the mastermind behind the racket.
With the connivance of a stamp vendor in Secunderabad and a photocopy centre owner in Maredpally, Altaf would lure unemployed youth from Jammu & Kashmir. He provided them with fake gun licences with which they procured arms and secured jobs in security services.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said, “The accused (Altaf) came to Hyderabad in 2013 and subsequently joined Grace Management Security Service. He was later deployed as a gunman with SIS cash service at West Marredpally. He was aware of the process to obtain an arms licence and procured a double-bore gun. He teamed up with Hafeezuddin, a stamp vendor in Secunderabad; Venkata Konda Reddy, regional manager at Grace Management Security Services; and I Srinivas, a photocopy shop owner to forge the licence.”
The trio began issuing fake arms licences and luring unemployed youth for jobs; they collected Rs 20,000 each from them. After procuring fake licences from the gang, the youth procured weapons. They secured jobs in security services across the country by submitting a counterfeit licence.