Man held for planting pistols illegally in kin’s house

New Delhi: A man has been arrested for allegedly planting illegal firearms at his relative’s rented house and tipping off police under a fake identity in an attempt to implicate him in an Arms Act case, an officer said on Sunday.

The accused, Mohammad Waseem (28), was arrested on Saturday after police during investigation by the police during the investigation of an Arms Act case registered earlier this month.

According to the police, Waseem allegedly harboured a grudge against his relative, Mohammad Ashraf, for marrying his sister-in-law against the family’s wishes. During questioning, Waseem initially tried to mislead investigators but later confessed to secretly planting three country-made pistols at Ashraf’s rented accommodation in Welcome on separate occasions. Giving details about Waseem’s plan, police said the accused, by posing as a person named “Arjun,” had earlier informed them about weapons being hidden at Ashraf’s place. Following this input, police reached the location and recovered one country-made pistol on July 16, leading to the registration of an Arms Act case against Ashraf. Later, acting on Waseem’s persistent insistence about the presence of more weapons in Ashraf’s house, police searched the premises again and recovered two more country-made pistols. Following the fresh recovery, another case under the Arms Act was registered. Police said that Waseem was however later arrested as they gathered more technical evidence. Waseem, who runs a mobile phone repair shop in northeast Delhi’s Sunder Nagri, has no previous criminal record. Investigators are now probing the entire conspiracy and examining the circumstances under which Ashraf was earlier arrested after the first weapon was recovered from the house, police added.