Gujarat ATS busts bogus arms licence racket, 7 held

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), along with Ahmedabad city crime branch and Surat city crime branch, busted a gang that obtained weapons using fake arms licences from other states, according to an official release from the ATS on Tuesday. ATS nabbed seven men from Ahmedabad city in the case and seized six weapons. Based on specific information, the agency began an investigation into the illegal acquisition of arms through bogus licences issued from Nagaland and Manipur. According to the ATS officials, the accused, Vishal Pandya, Dhvanit Mehta, Arjun Algotar, Dhairya Zariwala, Shelai Bharwad, Mukesh Bambha and Saddam Hussain allegedly paid money to arms dealers in Nuh, Haryana — Sokat Ali, Faruq Ali, Sohim Ali, and Asif — to get fake licences. Using these licences, they bought revolvers, pistols and 12-bore guns. The probe revealed that 49 people in Gujarat had obtained weapons using such fake licences. Gujarat ATS, with the help of the crime branch units from Vadodara, Ahmedabad (rural), Surendranagar, Rajkot, Botad and Morbi, questioned these individuals and recorded their statements. So far, the ATS has seized a total of six weapons, including three 12-bore guns, two pistols, one revolver and 135 live cartridges. A case was registered under the Arms Act, and further investigation is ongoing. "The gang used various methods to obtain weapons, including creating completely fake arms licences, tampering with licences issued in the names of other individuals and altering records of old arms licences. Gujarat ATS is conducting a detailed investigation into this criminal activity," said an official release of the ATS. Sources in Gujarat police said that more arrests will be made soon. One of the accused, Vishal Pandya, was also found to be involved in cricket betting and a con-call centre racket, which is being probed by police.