Arms smuggler arrested from UP, third in a week

Jaipur: Pratapgarh police and Anti-gangster Task Force (AGTF) arrested Ghulam Hussain, a known arms smuggler from Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, Friday. It was the third arrest made by AGTF from Uttar Pradesh in one week during the investigation into the arms smuggling racket, which was initially busted in Pratapgarh last month.The man identified as Ghulam Hussain is alleged to be the main supplier who supplied arms to Praveen, known as ‘Uncle', who was arrested earlier on July 9 from Uttar Pradesh. Praveen was instrumental in supplying these arms to the gang in Rajasthan.SP Pratapgarh Vinit Kumar Bansal said that the operation followed the arrest of Rakesh Rathore by Chhoti Sadri police in Pratapgarh on June 28. Rathore was caught with an automatic country-made pistol and two empty magazines. His questioning led police to Salman who was found with a large cache of illegal weapons and live cartridges.In the course of the investigation, police identified Praveen alias 'Uncle' as the upstream supplier in the chain. He was found to supply weapons not only to Rakesh but also to Jitendra Singh alias Jeetu Biloni. These arms ultimately landed in the hands of criminal elements such as Salman, who has links to multiple interstate rackets. Police on July 7 also arrested the owner of a gun shop in Uttar Pradesh, identified as Rama Shankar, for his alleged role in supplying cartridges to the accused.AGTF traced the origin of the arms to Ghulam Hussain, a 40-year-old from Nakkashi Mohalla Tola in South Kotwali, Firozabad. He is believed to be the main supplier of banned firearms and 9mm cartridges to Praveen, alias ‘Uncle'. Hussain was previously arrested along with three associates on March 19 in Rasoolpur, UP, during a police encounter in which he was shot in the leg. He was out on bail at the time of his arrest by AGTF.