A pistol equipped with laser light, and another that is used exclusively by the US Army, were among the three sophisticated firearms seized from two notorious gangsters who were arrested on Saturday. The duo is allegedly involved in several cases of murder, the police said.
The suspects — Gyanender and Rajeev Dahiya — were arrested after they opened fire at a Crime Branch team which had laid a trap to nab them. A search of the Hyundai Verna car they were in led to the recovery of the weapons.
Among the firearms seized is a 9 mm bore automatic pistol, which is equipped with laser light and is manufactured by Brazilian company Taurus, a .455 bore pistol used by the US Army and a .30 bore carbine.
Not made in India
Ravindra Yadav, Joint CP (Crime), said that the two pistols are not manufactured in India and are unlikely to be available for purchase here. The import of the Taurus pistol, in fact, is banned. The laser light in the pistol, which has a range of 80 metres, helps even a shooter with weak or shaky arms to take accurate aim. It fires hollow-point bullets, which expand inside the body to cause maximum damage. Mr. Yadav pegged its price anywhere between Rs. 30 to 40 lakh.
The other pistol, which is popular with the US Army, also uses hollow-point pistols and has a range of 50 metres. The carbine, however, is available in India.
Calling the two pistols the “most advanced” the Delhi Police have ever seized.
The police also recovered 66 cartridges, half of which were for the two foreign-manufactured guns. The cartridges too did not seem to be manufactured in India.
The police, meanwhile, are trying to identify the source of the weapons. The people named by the suspects as the suppliers did not appear to be connected to them, the police said.
Sea route used?
“During interrogation, the suspects mentioned about the weapons arriving in a consignment sent via ship. But, we are also probing the possibility of the porous Indo-Pak border being used to smuggle the weapons,” said an interrogator.
Gyanender and Dahiya are members of the notorious Haryana-based Mandhothia gang — rivals of the Sunda Pehalwan gang. Over 50 persons have been killed in this rivalry that dates back to 1993. Acquittal of all accused in these murder cases because of witnesses turning hostile led to a compromise in 2009. The rivalry resumed in 2011 when a Mandhothia member was shot dead by the rival gang.
Gyanender struck back soon, eliminating four members of the Sunda Pehalwan gang in one go. Ever since, he went into hiding, causing the Haryana Police to declare a reward of Rs. 1 lakh on his arrest. He was also wanted for an attempt to murder and some extortion cases reported in Delhi.
He and his associate Dahiya, who is also wanted for similar crimes, were arrested from Khera Khurd Village in North-West Delhi.
The possibility of the Indo-Pak border being used to smuggle the weapons into India is being probed
