Arms peddler arrested with 23 pistols near Delhi’s JLN Stadium

A 31-year-old man was arrested with 23 pistols that police said were meant to be supplied to several city criminals, police said on Monday.

The man, identified by the police as Kalu Saha, hailing from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday evening after the special cell received a tip-off, said PS Kushwah, deputy commissioner of police (special cell).

The officer said the police had been trailing Saha for the last two months after his name cropped up during the interrogation of some men who had recently been arrested for arms smuggling.

“On Thursday evening, we received a specific tip-off that Saha would be visiting the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium flyover to hand over pistols to one of his contacts. We apprehended him at 7.30pm and recovered a bag containing 23 sophisticated pistols,” said the DCP.

Police said Saha took to arms smuggling after losing his job as a driver in 2012 when a firm he was working for shut down. “When he returned to his village, he came in contact with some criminals who asked him to join them to smuggle arms into Delhi and neighbouring cities,” said the DCP.

Police said Saha had been supplying arms and ammunitions to criminals in Delhi after procuring them from people in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Through Saha, police are trying to reach the people up in the chain.

First Published: Sep 18, 2018 09:40 IST