NEW DELHI, Aug 12: A huge quantity of ammunition, including over 2,251 live cartridges, were recovered from the possession of six persons who have been arrested in connection with smuggling of ammunition in East Delhi ahead of Independence Day, police said on Friday.
The accused have been identified as Ajmal, Rashid, Parikshit, Saddam, Kamran, and Nasir, police said.
On August 6, a patrolling police party spotted two suspects with a trolley bag going towards the parking. On sustained enquiry, it was revealed that they were carrying 2,251 live cartridges including various types of imported ammunition. Police said an auto-rickshaw driver had tipped them about the duo.
The suspects, identified as Ajmal Khan (20) and Rashid alias Lallan (20) were immediately apprehended. Both are residents of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said. On sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that they received the ammunition from a person in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and it was going to be delivered to a person in Lucknow (name and other details withheld by police), DCP (east) Priyanka Kashyap said.
The DCP said the accused persons disclosed that they had already supplied similar such consignment four-five times in the past. The police raided areas of Lucknow and Jaunpur to nab the accused. One of the proposed receivers, Saddam was arrested from Jaunpur, they said.
Another police team scanned areas of Dehradun and nabbed Parikshit Negi (42) who ran a gun house there. The police said Negi disclosed that he procured the ammunition from several gun houses in Uttarakhand as well as other sources after manipulating the records of his gun house. Negi further supplied the ammunition to the arrested persons. He was also involved in such trafficking. Three more members of the syndicate were arrested, the DCP said.
According to a senior police official, prima facie, the accused appear to be part of a criminal network but he did not rule out a terror angle.
(Manas Dasgupta)