International weapons trafficking racket with links to Pakistan’s ISI busted in Delhi, 4 arrested

The arrests were made after the police received intelligence on November 19 that arms traffickers supplying sophisticated weapons to gangs in Delhi-NCR would arrive in Rohini for a delivery. A trap was laid near the Khatu Shyam temple stretch leading to Bawana, where a white car matching the tip-off was intercepted.

Inside a speaker box in a concealed cavity, officers recovered a duffle bag containing eight foreign-made pistols and 84 live cartridges of 0.30 bore, said police. The occupants of the car, Mandeep Singh (38), and Dalvinder Kumar (34), both residents of Jalandhar district of Punjab, were arrested. Their questioning led the police to two more intermediaries — Rohan Tomar (30), and Ajay (37), both from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. Two pistols and eight cartridges were recovered at their instance, said police.

DCP Yadav said, “The drones these accused used typically fly at low altitude to evade radar and carry small but high-value payloads. The consignments are dropped at pre-selected GPS locations close to the border fence, where receivers on the Indian side, usually local criminals or drug/arms traffickers, retrieved the material. The handlers coordinate the drop through encrypted communication platforms and frequently change locations and timings to avoid pattern detection. The network relies on local collaborators who monitor police movement, facilitate quick pickups, and transport the consignment to safe houses. Payments are routed through hawala channels or proxy accounts to maintain anonymity. The same groups are often found to be involved in trafficking, illegal arms supply, and other organised crime activities. They used to wrap the weapons in Kores carbon papers so that they could not be intercepted on checking,” the DCP further explained.

Police said Mandeep and Dalvinder had been working under the directions of Jaspreet alias Jas, an associate of gangster Sonu Khatri, who is believed to be operating from the United States and has a Red Corner Notice pending against him.

Jas, who allegedly worked closely with ISI-backed arms suppliers in Pakistan, is said to have fled India once the network came under the radar of central agencies. Both Mandeep and Dalvinder, childhood friends from Phillaur in Punjab, had shifted from petty crime to high-end arms trafficking in recent years. Mandeep, who used multiple identities and has previous cases of murder, attempted murder and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) offences against him, began dealing in illegal weapons after his release from jail in 2023, said police.

The two other accused, Rohan and Ajay, were earlier associated with the Anil Baliyan faction of the Sanjeev Jeeva gang and had allegedly supplied arms to the Gogi, Bhau and Kapil Sangwan gangs across Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Rohan was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut last year after police recovered 17 sophisticated weapons and 700 cartridges from his vehicle. Both had been using proceeds from arms trafficking to run contracting businesses backed by gangs.

Investigators believe the syndicate had been supplying high-end weapons to multiple criminal networks in the NCR and that the latest arrests are likely to reveal further links between foreign handlers and domestic gang networks.

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