Illegal arms dealer, two others held; manufacturing unit in Gzb raided

Criminals based out of western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had a plethora of options when it came to guns.

However, their favourite weapon, according to Delhi Police was the cheap and effective country-made pistol 'Kasmu katta', made by notorious arms manufacturer Kasmuddin (55).

Police have arrested Kasmuddin and his two associates. On Monday morning, cops also raided his arms manufacturing unit, disguised as a welding shop, in Ghaziabad.

Cops have so far recovered 16 country-made pistols, several gun making parts like fire pins, iron body plates etc used to

manufacture 'Kasmu kattas' from the Ghaziabad unit.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Ravindra Yadav said that police teams from North East Delhi had been working on the profile of arms traffickers in the district.

They developed inputs given by informants that some 'Kasmu katta' suppliers would come near Kudaghar, Seelampur on a Discover motorcycle.

On Sunday, two of the accused came to the spot and were intercepted by cops. After a brief chase, the two were nabbed. Police identified the two as Kasmuddin and his associate Ajay Kumar.

On basis of their interrogation, the police also nabbed the third accused Hashim from Ghaziabad on Monday.

During interrogation, Kasmuddin revealed that his brother-in-law Ramzan, alias Sadhu, introduced him to the business about 10 years ago. After Ramzan's death,

Kasmusddin shifted to Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh and started making weapons, before he was arrested in 2009.

After his release, Kasmuddin revived his gun racketeering trade by setting up a unit in Ghaziabad.

Criminals who used to source their weapons from Bihar's Munger and Madhya Pradesh' Khargone began seeing the cost-effective 'Kasmu kattas' as a better option, police claimed."Kasmu used to outsource the firearms barrels, firing pins, firing pin caps from Meerut and make the rest of the weapons using his own resources. Some criminals would purchase his guns for as low as Rs 3,000 and sell it for double the price," said DCP (North-East) AK Singla.