A sixth man was later arrested from Sirsa after questioning of the five revealed his alleged involvement in the racket. The Haryana Police special task force (STF) seized 25,000 live cartridges allegedly being smuggled to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in two cars and arrested five suspects near Rohad toll plaza on the Bahadurgarh-Rohtak highway in Jhajjar on Tuesday.
The suspects were identified as Afifuddin alias Munna Khan, 49, Asim Rais, 33, Sablu Khan, 32, Arbaz Ali, 27, and Zeenat, 33, all residents of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh. Waseem Akram, superintendent of police, Haryana STF, said 24,400 cartridges of 7.65mm (.32 bore) and .315 bore were recovered from a Tata Harrier, while another 600 cartridges of .315 bore were found in a Hyundai Aura. The seizure followed a tip-off from Bihar STF, which had arrested three suspects and recovered 19,200 live cartridges in Bhojpur district on Monday.
Police also seized eight mobile phones and two cars in which the consignments were being smuggled. Police identified Munna, who owns Badaun Gun House, as the alleged kingpin of the racket. They also arrested Vijay Goel, who operates Mehak Gun House in Sirsa and allegedly supplied the consignment. Investigators suspect the interstate network has been operating for three years. Investigators found that one of those arrested, Laltu Kumar, was allegedly in direct contact with Munna. Police suspect the ammunition was intended for illegal arms manufacturers and criminal gangs in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. An FIR under the Arms Act was registered at Asauda police station in Jhajjar. Police teams from Haryana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are jointly investigating the racket, including the suspected diversion of ammunition from licensed gun dealers.
Deputy superintendent of police Shamsher Dahiya said the cartridges bore the marking “KF”, indicating they were manufactured at the ammunition factory in Khadki, Pune.
