Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested 16 more persons as it continues the statewide raids in the ongoing investigation of fake arms licence racket. The ATS claimed that the operation yielded 15 illegal firearms and 489 live cartridges.
Arrests are part of a widening probe into a network comprised of people who obtained forged arms licences and have allegedly been procured via arms dealers operating in Haryana. It is reportedly the men arrested who paid him hefty sums—from ₹50,000 to beyond ₹10 lakh—allowing them to procure fake licences to buy legally in states such as Manipur and Nagaland before smuggling them into Gujarat.
Identification of the key arms dealers in the investigation are Soukat Ali, Faruq Ali, Sohim Ali and Asif, all living in Haryana. Among the licences they offered were fraudulently issued under the names of personnel from northeastern states that enabled buyers to legally buy weapons away from Gujarat and violate local restrictions.
The intelligence inputs began the investigation after Deputy Superintendent of Police SL Chaudhary received that six members of Gujarat had used fake licences to procure weapons from Manipur and Nagaland. This information was passed on to the ATS, which registered a case on April 7 and commenced a statewide crackdown.
The total number of arrests in the case has thus been so far 23, and more arrests are expected in the course of the investigation. Officials said that the reach of this racket may be broader than they think and are exploring any other links between local recipients and out-of-state arms dealers.
Continuing its probe to dismantle the entire network and to bring to account all those who were in the arms trafficking network, the ATS is determined.
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