2 illegal units that supplied arms to gangsters busted, 4 arrested

GURUGRAM/CHANDIGARH: The special task force (STF) on Monday unearthed two illegal arms factories in Jind and Jhajjar districts, run by the same group of criminals who were supplying weapons to dreaded gangsters in Haryana and Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Rajasthan. This is the first time that illegal arms factories have been busted in the state.
Gangsters Sanjeev Vidrohi and Rajesh Parti were among the main clients of the gang, which would manufacture weapons on demand, DIG Satheesh Balan said. In the two operations, the STF arrested four men, identified as Deepak alias Golu of Hamidpur in Delhi and Vinod alias Khema, Dilbagh alias Baba and Sunil alias Angoor, all residents of Bahrana village in Jhajjar. However, the fifth accused, identified as Sonu, managed to escape.

The police seized 35 country-made weapons, including a rifle, pistols, revolvers, double-barrel shotguns, semi-finished arms, cartridges and tools used to make them from the two sites. “They were discreetly running these factories and would use codes for their operations. They would manufacture one firearm in two days. The cost of these illegal arms was between Rs 2,000 and Rs 70,000. Largely, the cost would depend upon the quality of the weapon manufactured,” said Balan. “We are interrogating the accused to ascertain details about the procurement of raw material and the chain they used in selling these weapons,” he added.

Acting on a tip-off about an illegal arms racket in these two districts of Haryana, STF constituted two separate teams to conduct raids at Vikas Nagar in Jind and at Bahrana village in Jhajjar. Two pistols of 315 bore and .32 bore, one revolver of 32 bore, one shotgun of 12 bore, 3 semi-finished pistols of 315 bore, nine cartridges and tools used in making these weapons were recovered during the Jind raid. The second team seized three pistols of 315 bore, one rifle, 1 revolver of 32 bore, 1 pistol of 12 bore, three half-made pistols of 32 bore, nine cartridges and other material from Bahrana village.

Investigation is in progress and efforts are being made to arrest the fifth accused, the Haryana STF said, adding that cases have been registered against the four accused and they were being interrogated.