A 28-year-old man, who had a reward of ₹1 lakh announced on his arrest, has been held for allegedly supplying firearms, the police said on Friday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said that the accused, identified as Mohd Israr alias Kalu, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah, was arrested on Thursday from Madhya Pradesh.
The police said that in May 2018, two alleged gunrunners — Vineet Kumar and Ram Kumar — were arrested and 21 pistols along with 42 magazine were recovered from their possession. “During investigation, both the accused persons disclosed that they had procured the cache of illegal firearms from Israr,” the officer said.
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The police subsequently were informed that Israr was lodged in a Rajasthan jail on charges of dacoity and released on bail. They then received a tip-off that the accused would come to a place in MP’s Phoop on Thursday to meet an accomplice after which a team was sent. “Around 9 a.m. on Thursday, Israr was spotted. He tried to flee when he sensed danger but was apprehended after a brief scuffle,” Mr. Yadav said.
During interrogation, Israr told the police that he has been in the business for the last four years and used to procure firearms and ammunition from one Jeet in Madhya Pradesh to further supply to his contacts in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.