UP: Arms smugglers are now hiring taxis to avoid police suspicion

PRAYAGRAJ: Investigations into the arrest of three arms smugglers including Bhimshankar Pathak, Shivam Pandey and Abhimanyu Tiwari, who were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of UP police near Naribari (UP-MP border) on Saturday and recovery of ten 0.32 bore pistols along with 20 magazines, has revealed that arms smugglers are currently hiring taxis to smuggle illegal weapons.
The arms smugglers, who earlier used to bring illegal weapon consignments from Badwani area of Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh through public transport like bus or trains, have found hired taxis or own SUVs the safe medium to smuggle weapons with apprehension that police would not take hired taxis under their suspicion.
During unlock 2.0, the arms smugglers have rescheduled their journeys and decided to use hired taxis or own SUVs to smuggle the illegal weapon consignments in UP. The mastermind Bhimshankar Pathak convinced Shivam Pandey and Abhimanyu Tiwari and asked Abhimanyu to use his own SUV to bring the illegal arms consignment from Khandwa.
While Bhimshankar and Shivam had spent Rs 99,000 to purchase 10 pistols of 0.32 bore along with 20 magazines, Abhimanyu also bore the transportation expenditures. Additional SP (STF) Neeraj Kumar Pandey told TOI that STF had sent Bhimsharkar Pathak behind the bars on October 31, 2017 and November 9, 2019 with the seizure of five and eight pistols of 0.32 bore and several magazines respectively when he used to travel by bus or trains to bring consignments. ASP also claimed that arms smugglers are currently not using code words for illegal weapons. Police said that unauthorised firearms are making their way into various Eastern UP districts from Khanwa (Madhya Pradesh). Police also claimed that a database of people involved in the illegal arms trade has been compiled and it includes names, addresses, numbers and details of modus operandi. Mastermind Bhimshankar, arrested by STF, has reportedly confessed that he was bringing the consignment from Badwani town of Khandwa district, and has been in the trade for the past five years. He told the STF that he was earlier only a carrier for a Jhunsi based man, but later started making his own deals for better profits.