Ahmedabad, Jul 14(PTI) The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has busted an arms license racket allegedly operated from Uttar Pradesh by arresting seven individuals in Ahmedabad with firearms and detaining two suspected middlemen, an official said on Monday.
The ATS seized seven firearms, 285 cartridges, and bogus arms licenses from Mukeshsinh Chauhan, Abhishek Trivedi, Vedprakash Singh, Rajendrasinh Sankhla, Ajay Sengar, Vijay Sengar and Sholeysinh Sengar and booked them under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Arms Act.
The seven individuals had collectively paid Rs 53.5 lakh to UP-based agent Devkant Pandey to secure the licenses issued by that government and seven guns, including three revolvers and four pistols, the ATS stated.
The accused had acquired bogus arms licenses of the UP government by falsely claiming to be residents of Etah and country-made guns with the help of the agent, the ATS said in a release.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the accused never lived or conducted business at the address in Etah mentioned on their firearms licenses, said the release.
They had also not given any interview before the Etah magistrate to obtain arms licenses as per the rules, and none of them signed any gun house register.
Two middlemen - Shyamsinh Thakur and Himmatsih Rajput - have been detained for questioning and further investigation is underway, it said.