With the arrest of two men, the Delhi Police on Thursday busted an inter-State illegal firearms syndicate in the national Capital. Police said that the duo was arrested from ISBT at Delhi’s Anand Vihar area, where they had come to deliver a consignment.

The accused have been identified as Shivam Sharma (24) and Krishan Kumar (22), both residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh. Police said they have also recovered 15 pistols and 40 live cartridges from the possession of the accused.

According to Pramod Singh Kushwah, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Cell, specific inputs were received that Shivam and Krishan had collected the consignment of firearms from an arms supplier in Madhya Pradesh and would arrive at ISBT Anand Vihar, on September 14 to hand over weapons to one of their contacts.

“A trap was laid and both were apprehended along with 15 illegal pistols and 40 live cartridges. They have been booked under stringent provisions of the Arms (Amendment) Act 2019, having minimum punishment of 10 years which is extendable up to life imprisonment,” said the DCP.

“When interrogated, the two disclosed that they procured firearms and ammunition from an arms manufacturer-cum- supplier in Madhya Pradesh. The two regularly procured firearms from arms manufacturers in Madhya Pradesh and further supplied it to gangsters, hardened criminals and small arms peddlers in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan  for the last four years,” said the DCP.

“They purchased a semi-automatic pistol for Rs 7,000 and a single shot pistol for Rs 1,000 from Madhya Pradesh. They sold the semi-automatic pistol further for Rs 25,000 and the single shot pistol for Rs 4,000 to the criminals in Delhi-NCR,” said the DCP.

Shivam has previously been arrested in criminal cases, including arms trafficking and theft in UP, police said, adding further investigation is underway to identify and arrest the backward and forward linkages of the syndicate.