Made In China, Turkey, Supplied To India Via Pak: Major Arms Racket Busted

The police in Delhi have busted a major international illegal arms smuggling racket that was supplying weapons made in China and Turkey to India. The syndicate, linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was smuggling high-end pistols from Pakistan into India using drones, officials said.

The police arrested four key members of the gang, including a wanted criminal, Mandeep, of Punjab, and two of his close aides, Rohan and Monu, both from Uttar Pradesh. The police also recovered 10 expensive foreign pistols and 92 live cartridges.

Mandeep, who is associated with the Sonu Khatri gang, has numerous criminal cases registered against him, including for murder.

Investigation has revealed that the drones dropped the consignments of weapons at designated locations. The consignments were wrapped in carbon paper so that they are not detected by scanners. The members of the gang were then instructed to collect the weapons from these drop locations and deliver them to Delhi.

These weapons were then supplied to criminals in Delhi and surrounding states, officials said.

The police are now working to determine the number of weapons they sold in India and the gangs or individuals who were involved in the illegal racket.

The main operator of the racket is said to be Jaspreet, alias Jassa, who is based in the US and maintains direct contact with his handlers in Pakistan, sources said.

Security agencies are also investigating the other members of the gang and their links using mobile phones, bank details, and social media records.

Security in Delhi and other parts of the country has been increased following a blast in the national capital last Monday.

15 people were killed and many others injured when a Hyundai i20 car driven by a suicide bomber, Umar un Nabi, exploded near the Red Fort, popularly known as Lal Qila, on November 10.

Hours before the blast, Jammu and Kashmir Police had announced that it had cracked an interstate and transnational "white-collar" terror module, linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group.

It said it also seized 2,900 kilograms of explosive substances, including ammonium nitrate, which was reportedly used in the Delhi blast.