NEW DELHI: Notorious arms trafficker Saleem Ahmed, alias Pistol, was allegedly planning to set up a weapons manufacturing unit near the Pakistan border in collaboration with Inter-Services Intelligence-backed operatives. The facility was intended to produce counterfeit versions of pistols like Turkish Zigana and Chinese Star, which were to be supplied to gangs across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab on a large scale, sources said. The plan came to light during his interrogation, prompting Delhi Police’s special cell to invoke the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him. One of north India’s top three illegal arms suppliers, Pistol has deep connections with several organised crime syndicates. He was tracked down in Nepal last month and detained in Pokhara on Aug 8 in a joint operation by the special cell and central intelligence agencies, led by additional commissioner Pramod Kushwaha. TOI was the first to report it. For years, Pistol was a key figure involved in smuggling high-grade weapons from Pakistan into India, playing a pivotal role in arming criminal networks nationwide. He is believed to have mentored one of the accused in the high-profile Sidhu Moosewala murder and has been linked to the killing of Baba Siddiqui. His network allegedly supplied weapons to notorious gangsters, including Lawrence Bishnoi and Hashim Baba. According to intelligence sources, Pistol maintained direct ties with the Pakistan’s ISI and the D-Company syndicate.
A resident of northeast Delhi, Pistol began his criminal career with vehicle thefts and armed robberies, eventually moving into large-scale arms trafficking. He was arrested in Delhi in 2018, but fled the country after securing bail. At the time, police had recovered 26 pistols, 19 clips and 800 cartridges of prohibited 9mm ammunition from him. The pistols were knockoffs of Glock 17 with ‘Made in China’ tags. Investigations have revealed that weapons smuggled by Pistol were concealed in special cavities within ‘transformers’ shipped from Pakistan to Nepal. “The thick metal frames of the transformers helped the arms, which were hidden in parts, evade detection by scanners at Nepal airport. The gang had contacts with some airport staff who helped clear the consignment,” said an officer. Once the arms arrived, Pistol’s associates-members of the Hashim Baba gang-were alerted. The consignment was then picked up from the Indo-Nepal border and transported to Delhi. Pistol’s residence in Jafrabad functioned as a fortified workshop. The four-storey building was equipped with a network of CCTV cameras and used for assembling and repairing firearms.
