Key member of inter-state gun suppliers’ gang held in Delhi

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) A key member of an inter-state gun suppliers’ gang has been arrested here along with a cache of firearms, which was to be delivered to a contact in the national capital, police said on Saturday.

Rajpal Singh, 35, was arrested on Wednesday evening after a brief scuffle with Delhi Police’s special cell officers near a Delhi Transport Corporation depot in south Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.

"We arrested Rajpal on a tip-off and recovered a bag from his possession carrying 30 semi-automatic pistols, one carbine and five live cartridges. The firearms were to be delivered to his contact in Delhi," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav said.

Rajpal, a resident of Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh, is the brother of Richhpal Singh, accused of manufacturing and supplying illegal arms since long.

"In the past six months, we have busted four different modules of Richhpal and arrested seven of his associates. We have recovered 106 semi-automatic pistols, one carbine, live cartridges and spare magazines from them," said the official.

According to him, Richhpal is the kingpin of this syndicate and a bulk supplier of illegal weapons in Delhi and adjoining states.

The official said that the arrest was part of a special drive against firearms suppliers, who sneak into Delhi for the illegal business from other parts of the country.

"It transpired that the illegal weapons were mainly pumped into Delhi from areas of Khargaon in Burhanpur of Madhya Pradesh and Munger in Bihar," he said.

The official claimed the special cell had arrested several members and kingpins and seized more than 400 sophisticated and semi-automatic weapons since January 2016.