‘Supplied Zigana pistol to Sidhu Moosewala killers’: Who is Salim Pistol, arrested from India-Nepal border
The police said Salim Pistol was a frequent visitor to Pakistan via Nepal and had also visited Dubai and several Middle East countries over the past ten years.
3 min read
According to sources, during interrogation, it was revealed that Salim, a resident of Delhi's Jafrabad, was a frequent visitor to Pakistan via Nepal. Saleem Ahmed alias Salim Pistol, an arms dealer arrested from the Indo-Nepal border, was working as a middleman between foreign firearm suppliers and buyers in Delhi and the surrounding areas, according to police investigations.
Official sources said Salim was interrogated by the Delhi Police and other security agencies after being arrested by the Special Cell at the India-Nepal border last week. He has been in police custody for ten days.
According to sources, during interrogation, it was revealed that Salim, a resident of Delhi’s Jafrabad, was a frequent visitor to Pakistan via Nepal. He had also visited Dubai and several Middle East countries over the past ten years, said sources.
While staying abroad, he allegedly posed as a businessman involved in the property trade. However, he was helping suppliers of illegal firearms connect with gangsters and criminals in India, said sources.
“He acted as a conduit and often provided foreign-made pistols to gangsters. It has been stated that he was the one who supplied the Zigana pistol to the shooters who assassinated Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab,” a source said.
According to the dossier on Salim prepared by the Delhi Police, he dropped out of school after Class 8 due to poverty and began working as a car driver. In 1992, he got married and has two children.
In the same year, he was allegedly involved in an assault case and was booked under Section 324 of the IPC (voluntarily causing hurt on grave and sudden provocation) at the Seelampur police station. According to the dossier, this was his first recorded offence.
Later, he was involved in at least nine cases related to murder, theft, robbery, and violations of the Arms Act across various police stations in northeast Delhi, up until 2018.
“To support his vices, he, along with Mukesh Gupta alias Kaka, began committing auto thefts. On April 7, 2000, the duo stole a car from Chandni Chowk using a master key and were arrested a month later. They were found driving the same vehicle with a fake number plate,” the dossier states.
On August 7, 2012, he and his associates were allegedly involved in an attempted robbery of Rs 20 lakh from a house in Jafrabad. He was arrested in connection with the case in 2013 and was later released on bail.
An officer said, “Salim used to supply firearms and was a well-known arms supplier among criminals and gangsters in Delhi and neighbouring states. This is why they used to call him Salim Pistol.”
Salim was last arrested in 2018 in connection with an arms supply case. “Interrogators are now trying to ascertain his links with foreign-based arms suppliers,” the officer said.
The officer added that Salim’s house is located in northeast Delhi’s Jafrabad area, where his wife, children, and other family members reside. However, they refused to speak to the media when approached after his arrest.
You May Like
