Lucknow: The UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested two members of an inter-state illegal arms smuggling gang in Lucknow on Sunday and recovered five illegal firearms, ₹1,340 in cash and two bags from their possession.The accused have been identified as Amarjeet Yadav, a resident of Mahmoodpur village under Baldirai police station in Sultanpur district and Naushad, a resident of Kariyana locality in Dostpur town of Sultanpur.According to the STF, the arrests were made around 1.30 am on Oct 4 on the Ahimamau service road near Amara Farm turn, under Sushant Golf City police station in Lucknow. The recovery included two illegal 9 mm pistols, two illegal .32-bore pistols and one illegal country-made .315-bore firearm.The STF said it had been receiving intelligence inputs about the activities of an inter-state gang involved in illegal arms trafficking across several districts of Uttar Pradesh. Teams were subsequently directed to gather intelligence and take action against the suspected network.Acting on specific information that two men had arrived in Lucknow to trade illegal firearms, an STF team, working alongside personnel from the Ahimamau police outpost under Sushant Golf City police station, intercepted and arrested the suspects.During questioning, investigators came to know that Amarjeet operated an illegal arms trafficking network and Naushad was working with him for some time.According to the STF, the gang allegedly procured firearms from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh for ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 apiece and resold them in different districts of UP for amounts ranging from ₹80,000 to ₹1 lakh. The STF said Amarjeet had a long criminal past, with several cases registered against him in Sultanpur and Ayodhya districts.The cases listed in the STF release include charges relating to murder, attempted murder, robbery, extortion, criminal intimidation, possession of illegal arms and offences under the Gangsters Act. They were also accused of assaulting public servants.
