Arms smuggler who masterminded attack on NIA team arrested

Suspected arms smuggler Malook, who is believed to have supplied firearms to those accused in the killing of an RSS leader in Punjab, was on Thursday arrested from the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border, a senior police officer said.

A joint team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the U.P. Police was fired upon and pelted with stones by a mob on December 3 when it was carrying out searches in Ghaziabad to apprehend Malook.

The NIA is probing the killing of RSS leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana.

According to Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) H.N. Singh, a team of Bhojpur police arrested Malook from the Delhi-U.P. border on December 7 morning and recovered a country-made pistol and three live cartridges from his possession.

In connection with the attack on the NIA-police team, the Bhojpur police lodged an FIR against Malook, Naushad, Shahzad, Rahees, Naubahar, Mustkeem and Trikat, and 50 unidentified men and women.

So far, police have arrested five people — Malook, Nazir, Yusuf, Khalid and Naubahar, the SSP said.