Arms peddler held for supplying ammunition to Maoists in Maharashtra

New Delhi :  An illegal arms peddler was arrested here with 407 cartridges that were to be supplied to Maoist camps in Maharashtra’s Garchiroli, Delhi Police said on Tuesday.

Police said the accused, identified as Ram Krishna Singh, 55, a resident of Bihar’s Bhojpur district, was arrested on Sunday near Shanti Van in east Delhi following a tip off.

According to police, Singh is a member of a Bihar based group that supply cartridges of prohibited bore to Maoists groups in Garhchiroli and other rebel-affected areas of Maharashtra.

A total 407 cartridges of different caliber, including those used in INSAS and self-loading rifles also used by paramilitary forces, were recovered from Singh’s possession.

“A police team had on May 25 this year had arrested arms supplier, Dhirender from Uttar Pradesh, with 95 cartridges. Dhirender disclosed that he used to supply illegal cartridges to Ram Krishna Singh who further supply it to some Maoist-affected areas,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwah.

“On interrogation, Singh told police that he was supplying illegal arms since 2015. He earlier worked as a teacher in a private school in Bihar. He later came in contact with some arms supplier of Munger and joined their gangs. He used to procure fire arms from Munger for supplying to criminals in Bihar and western Uttar Pradesh. He later supplied the arms to Maoists active in Maharashtra,” he added.

“He also claimed that he has supplied over 15,000 cartridges to Maoists in Garchiroli,” the DCP said.

Published on: July 25, 2018 at 01:13 IST

IANS