Jaipur: As part of its ongoing crackdown on illegal arms trafficking, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Pratapgarh police Tuesday arrested a key arms supplier, Praveen Verma alias ‘Uncle’, on a production warrant from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.Verma, a native of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, is allegedly responsible for supplying a cache of prohibited weapons and ammunition to notorious arms smuggler Salman, who was earlier arrested in Pratapgarh. A joint team of the AGTF and Pratapgarh police traced and arrested Verma from Lucknow District Jail through a production warrant.The case began on June 28 when Pratapgarh police arrested Rakesh Rathore, a resident of Gangdhar in Jhalawar, with a country-made automatic pistol and two empty magazines. During interrogation, Rakesh revealed that the weapon was supplied by Salman, son of Sherkhan, a resident of Nagda. Acting on this lead, police raided Salman’s premises and recovered 14 country-made and foreign firearms along with 1,860 live cartridges.In the course of the investigation, police identified Praveen alias ‘Uncle’ as the upstream supplier in the chain. He was found to supply weapons not only to Rakesh but also to Jitendra Singh alias Jeetu Biloni. These arms ultimately landed in the hands of criminal elements such as Salman, who has links to multiple inter-state rackets.As part of the ongoing probe, police Monday also arrested the owner of a gun shop in Uttar Pradesh, identified as Rama Shankar, for his alleged role in supplying cartridges to the accused.Police said Verma has a history of serious criminal offences, including cases related to arms smuggling and attempted murder. His notoriety in the criminal underworld earned him the moniker ‘Uncle’ among gang networks operating in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Raj AGTF arrests arms smugglers from Lucknow | Jaipur News
