Who is Shahbaz Ansari? Moosewala murder suspect and kingpin of international arms module busted in Delhi

The network

Sources said Ansari hails from an alleged criminal family in Bulandshahr, adding that his father, Qurban, had built an arms supply network. “Qurban used to store them at his electrical shop in Khurja, which was obviously a front. He died in 2019, and transferred the business to his sons Shahbaz and Nadeem,” a senior police officer said.

Ansari started expanding the ‘business’ aggressively in Delhi, police officers said, which put him in direct contact with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was just starting to gain prominence in Delhi’s underworld. “The older gangs in Delhi relied on Salim Pistol and other arms suppliers. Shahbaz came in with a different level of weaponry, all foreign made,” a police officer claimed.

According to police sources, Ansari had a contact in Pakistan who would send weaponry, used by elite forces, to the Middle East, where they would be dismantled and sent to Nepal.

From Nepal, sources said, Ansari’s brother-in-law would ensure they were re-assembled and send them to the Nepal-India border.

From there, it would reach Khurja. Ansari’s local contacts supplied them to Delhi. Police said his cousin would pick them up and sell them to gangsters associated with Lawrence, Kapil Sangwan and other mafiosos of Delhi.

In 2022, police claimed Ansari allegedly supplied AK-47s to Lawrence’s men, which was used to kill Moosewala. Police said Bishnoi’s statement to investigators confirmed Ansari’s role, and he was arrested in October 2022 by the National Investigation Agency.

The ‘great escape’

Police said Ansari moved court seeking bail citing a plethora of reasons: sister’s wedding, family functions, absence of male members. In 2023, he got bail for five days when his wife, Gulfisha, was pregnant.

In June last year, he moved another bail plea.

As reported by The Indian Express, he was granted interim bail for a month on June 18, 2025, by a vacation judge of the Patiala House Court. The relief was granted on a plea from Ansari that he wanted to be with Gulfisha when she underwent a “spine decompression surgery”. Ansari was directed to give his mobile number to the Investigating Officer and provide weekly updates until his scheduled surrender on July 18, according to court records.

But he fled. “He switched off his phone within 48 hours… Some of his wife’s medical records were also found to be forged. He managed to cross into Nepal and then flew to Bangladesh,” a police officer said.

“Since then, Ansari has been shuttling between Bangladesh and Dubai, getting in touch with operatives in ISI. About eight months ago, he contacted his cousin, Rahil, and revived his network,” the officer added.

Since then, Rahil and his team have allegedly supplied 70-80 high-end weapons to gangsters in Delhi, police said. In the past month alone, six cases of firing linked to gangsters were reported in the Capital.

Rahil, police said, was arrested on March 13.

“As of now, Ansari’s location is in Bangladesh,” the officer said.