Extortion probe exposes nexus between gun house owners and illegal arms suppliers

A probe into an extortion racket has led the Delhi Police to uncover a nexus between illegal arms suppliers and gun house owners involved in providing sophisticated firearms to gangsters based in the national capital, officials said on Friday.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Special Cell NDR, Pratiksha Godara, stated that the investigation began after the arrest of several criminals linked to extortion activities in the city.

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In the course of the investigation, it was found that two jailed gangsters—lodged in Jaipur and Dausa jails—along with one of their Delhi-based associates, were providing crucial information about potential targets for extortion operations, she added.

Godara further mentioned that the same probe also revealed that some Delhi-based criminals were trafficking sophisticated illegal firearms, including Ordnance-made pistols, Taurus pistols, revolvers, and foreign-made ammunition.

So far, five members of this firearms trafficking network, including one gun house owner, have been arrested. Police have recovered two Ordnance-made pistols, one Taurus pistol, one revolver, two pen pistols, one .32 bore pistol, and several foreign-made cartridges, the official said.

Additionally, several more individuals—including gun house owners from different states—have been identified as being involved in the network, and efforts are underway to trace and apprehend them.

Describing the modus operandi, Godara said that the gun house owners in the network procured sophisticated weapons directly from various ordnance factories and erased their unique serial numbers.

After falsifying their records, they sold these weapons to criminals at exorbitant prices, falsely documenting the sales under the names of licensed holders.