Bengaluru, Sep 22 (PTI) Police have busted an alleged racket involved in the illegal sale of country-made pistols and arrested seven people on the outskirts of the city, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Pradeep Ramesh (30), Rizwan Pasha (36), Manoj (28), Venkataraj (26), Shivaraj (30), Gopi (28) and Nanjappa (30), they said.
With their arrests, police claimed to have seized five country-made pistols and 10 live bullets from the accused.
The first arrest in the case was made on August 14 during a patrol near Haldenahalli railway gate in Anekal, when police noticed a person later identified as Pradeep standing suspiciously with a bag.
According to police, during a search, three country-made pistols and 10 live bullets were found in his possession. He was allegedly waiting to deliver the firearms near Haldenahalli railway station when he was caught by police.
The accused was taken into custody and questioned, following which police uncovered the alleged illegal arms sale racket which led to the arrests of six others recently.
Further investigation led to information about two other country-made pistols allegedly sold to the accused Rizwan and Manoj. Following their arrests, police subsequently seized the firearms from their possession, they said.
A case has been registered against all seven accused under the relevant provisions of the Arms Act, police said, adding that further investigation is underway. PTI COR AMP KH
(PTI News)