NEW DELHI: The Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday dismissed the bail application of advocate Deepak Khatri in a UAPA case linked to the alleged illegal arms syndicate and international arms trafficking racket of Shahbaz Ansari.Khatri, who claims to be a member of Lawrence Bishnoi’s legal team, was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act in connection with a case involving a large recovery of illegal arms.He was detained at Indira Gandhi International Airport on August 25 pursuant to a Look Out Circular (LOC), news agency ANI reported.Special Judge (UAPA) Kiran Bansal rejected the regular bail application filed by accused Deepak Nanda alias Deepak Khatri.He had alleged violations of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution and Sections 47 and 48 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, citing the alleged illegality of his arrest, non-communication of grounds of arrest and illegal remand.This was his second bail application. His first bail plea was withdrawn on October 14, 2026, with liberty to file a fresh application.While dismissing the plea, the court observed, “In the present case, there has been substantial and effective compliance with the mandate of law, and reasons of arrest were supplied to the accused against written acknowledgement.”The court noted that the accused himself is an advocate and his wife is also an advocate, and that both are well versed with the law and procedures.It said the application was devoid of merit and made out no grounds for granting bail. Among the reasons cited was that the accused was produced before the remand court within 24 hours of his detention or apprehension at IGI Airport, ANI reported.The grounds and reasons for arrest were communicated to him against written acknowledgement before 1.32pm on August 26, 2026.“Grounds of arrest were also duly communicated to the wife and the counsel for the accused on the same day orally immediately after the arrest and in writing also on the same day,” the court said in its order.The investigating officer (IO), in a reply to the bail application, stated that the FIR was registered following the receipt of secret information, after which four accused persons were apprehended. During their search, 10 semi-automatic pistols and 116 live cartridges were recovered.During the investigation, accused Mohd. Rahil disclosed that alleged arms traffickers Shahbaz Ansari and Rehan Ansari were his cousin and maternal uncle, respectively, ANI reported.Shahbaz Ansari was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2022 and was subsequently released on interim bail.However, he did not surrender after his release and left India. He is presently believed to be operating from Bangladesh.The IO further stated that raids were conducted and 20 accused persons associated with the alleged international arms trafficking and terror module of Shahbaz Ansari have been arrested so far.A total of 33 high-end foreign-made sophisticated firearms, including two sub-machine guns, and 368 live cartridges have been recovered either from their possession or at their instance.(With agency inputs)
