BHUBANESWAR: The Special Crime Unit (SCU) of Commissionerate Police on Saturday arrested a notorious arms supplier and seized 10 semi-automatic guns and 18 rounds of live ammunition from his possession.
Police also seized 10 magazines from the accused, identified as Shaikh Nadeem (31) of Jagatsinghpur district. Sources said SCU had launched a surveillance targetting the illegal firearms trade in the capital city. Acting on a tip-off, an SCU team intercepted Nadeem while he was returning from Puri on his motorcycle in the wee hours of the day.
Police said Nadeem was under their radar since the last one month and he was supposed to sell the seized guns and ammunition to the local arms dealers operating in and around the capital city. “The accused has criminal antecedents and he was earlier injured during a gunfight with Kendrapara police in April 2019,” they added.
Initial investigation revealed Nadeem mostly procured guns from Bihar’s Munger for Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 each. He then sold the weapons to local distributors for Rs 45,000 each. Police said the distributors further sold these weapons for as high as Rs 80,000 and even more.
Addressing mediapersons, police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said a thorough investigation has been launched to establish the entire illegal arms supply chain, ascertain if there are any financial backers and whether a broader network is behind it.
On September 17, SCU had busted an inter-state arms smuggling racket and arrested a notorious supplier along with two local distributors. Police had seized eight semi-automatic pistols, 34 rounds of live ammunition, 10 magazines and three cars from the accused.