GURGAON: Haryana STF has arrested a member of Neeraj Faridpur gang and seized five firearms, including a foreignmade Glock pistol and a Chinese-made PX-30, with investigators now suspecting the weapons were sourced through a cross-border smuggling network as part of an alleged plan by the accused to avenge his father’s murder.The accused, identified as Sonu alias Pramod, was arrested by a team led by ACP Preet Pal on July 18 in connection with an attempt to murder case and an Arms Act case registered at Mundkati police station in Palwal on July 3. After being produced before a local court in Palwal, police procured his two-day remand on July 19. During this first remand, investigators seized a Glock pistol, a revolver and 226 live cartridges of different calibres. A three-day remand led to the seizure of PX-30 pistol, a .32-bore pistol, a double-barrel 12-bore gun and four more cartridges, taking the total recovery to five firearms and 230 cartridges. PX-30 seized from Sonu is part of a firearm increasingly turning up in gang violence. In the recent Sushant Lok encounter where four men were killed, shooters allegedly sent by gangster Deepak Nandal carried three PX-30s. Manufactured by Chinese firm Norinco, the pistol is named for its .30 bore, and comes fitted with a 17-round detachable magazine, which makes it popular with organised gangs over standard handguns. The weapon is available in Pakistan’s illegal arms market, particularly in Peshawar, and has entered India before through crossborder smuggling routes via Pakistan and Nepal. Police said they are investigating whether Pakistanbased smugglers were part of the alleged supply chain, and are working to identify Sonu’s associates and establish the route through which the firearms reached him. According to STF, Sonu allegedly worked as an arms supplier for the gang and is wanted in a separate case registered at Kakod police station in UP, where a reward of Rs 50,000 has been announced for his arrest. During the interrogation, police said Sonu disclosed that he wanted to avenge the 2013 killing of his father, allegedly murdered by members of a rival gang while in police custody in UP. Investigators said Sonu and his father had themselves been arrested in a murder case involving a rival gang member shortly before the killing. The rival gang retaliated by killing the father while he was being produced before a local court.
