Delhi Police seizes 99 pistols meant for gangs

, July 17: In a major catch, the Delhi Police has seized 99

meant for various criminal gangs operating in and around the national capital.

Two men-one identified by his second name Mishra and Firoz Alam-were arrested from Sonia Vihar area here on Tuesday evening along with the cache of weapons concealed in the car used by them, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

"The pistols were kept in cavities created behind the headlights of the car. The weapons were made in Bihar's Munger district. The two arrested persons also hail from the same district," he said.

Munger has lately emerged as the hub of contraband weapons in the country, with pistols manufactured in the illegal factories there even founding their way to Indian Mujahideen terrorists, police sources said.

Earlier, investigators had recovered illegal weapons made in Munger from the five persons arrested in connection with Pune blasts. They had allegedly told the police that they had bought the weapons from Munger.

On terrorists going for country-made weapons, an official had claimed, "A country-made pistol manufactured in Munger was as good as a sophisticated one."

According to him, 130 pistols made in Munger were seized by the Delhi Police last year while the figure for this year stands at about 60.

Costing somewhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000, there is a demand for Munger weapons in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, the national capital and adjoining areas and Bangladesh.

PTI