Lucknow: Four men were arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district for smuggling contraband, arms and ammunition, police said on Saturday.
The men, in their 30s, were nabbed Friday night near Aroma Garden in Meerut, some 400 km from Lucknow, with 33 pistols and 66 magazines hidden in a secret compartment of a car.
"Acting on a tip-off, in a joint operation with the special operation group (SOG), we intercepted an Ambassador car and nabbed the four men after a brief gunfight," Deputy Superintendent of Police A.K. Srivastava told a news agency.
"Pistols and magazines were kept inside a special compartment of the car's fuel tank. The four have admitted that they have been illegally supplying the firearms to their clients in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, particularly the western regions," he added.
According to police, though the firearms have markings of a foreign make, the weapons seized were manufactured in Mungeer region of Bihar.
"Taking into account, the quality of firearms and their impressive outer, anyone can be taken for a ride as they would think the weapons were genuinely imported and smuggled from abroad," police inspector Rakesh Singh said.
"The four have given vital clues about their clients in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that would help us in busting their racket," he added.
Amongst the four arrested, Ramesh Kumar and Pramod Chaudhary are from Bihar, while Hnaeef and Khursheed are residents of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, January 02, 2010, 10:22