STF arrests inter-State arms smuggler with eight illegal pistols in Rudrapur
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Rudrapur
Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a man Khajan Singh (24) in Rudrapur, Udham Singh Nagar district with eight illegal pistols along with magazines in the wee hours of Thursday. The accused is a resident of Bagwala in Rudrapur who was caught with five .32 bore and three .30 bore. The arrest was made during a joint operation conducted by the STF’s Kumaon unit and Rudrapur police on the night of July 24, 2025.
According to the STF senior superintendent of police Navneet Singh Bhullar, the accused was arrested during the ongoing checking campaign against illegal arms smuggling in view of the Panchayat elections. He stated that the STF received information about possible smuggling of weapons from other States into Uttarakhand. Based on these inputs, surveillance was intensified across various districts. The accused had previously been jailed in cases related to robbery and arms smuggling in Udham Singh Nagar district.
The SSP said that during interrogation, the accused revealed that the weapons were procured from a person named Sartaj in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh, who is involved in illegal arms trade. He, along with his associates, has earlier supplied similar semi-automatic pistols to parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as per his claims. Bhullar said that the STF has identified four other individuals associated with the smuggling network. Further investigation is underway to trace their involvement, he added.
The SSP also informed that under the ongoing checking campaign to ensure safe and secure Panchayat elections across the State, the STF has registered three cases in July 2025 so far and arrested four individuals and recovered 15 illegal pistols and live cartridges.
