Gang of 5 held with large cache of arms in Ujjain

INDORE: Police busted an interstate gang of criminals and arrested five members, including three residents of Rajasthan, during a daring raid at a two-storied house in Nagda on Saturday.

Police found a large cache of arms and ammunition including Webley Scot pistols, banned 7.62 bore cartridges and 12-bore trap shooting rounds from the house, Ujjain superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Singh said.

Police had received information about the Salman Lala gang -- wanted for several counts of attempted murders and extortion – being holed up in a house in Balaram Ki Kutia area, following which an elaborate raid was planned.

A team scaled the roof and moved down the stairs, while another broke through the ground floor door, he said adding five members of the gang were found clutching their guns, poised to open fire.

“The police teams overpowered the gang and snatched their weapons, before securing them Singh said.

A search found that the gang had stocked large quantity of arms and ammunition. Police found 462 12-bore Italian-make trap shooting cartridges, 84 9mm-cartridges and 49 7.62mm- cartridges. The team also found 145 .22 cartridges and 18 32 bore cartridges, the SP said.

A Webley Scot pistol and four country-made pistols were also recovered from the accused.

The accused were identified as Salman alias Sheru Lala, 28, of Nagda and Alfez Khan, 18 of Jaora – both residents of Madhya Pradesh . Salman Lala carried a reward of Rs 10,000 on his head.

Police also arrested Rajasthan-based Rehan Khan, 22, Imran Khan , 22 and Salman Khan, 23 of Pratapgarh .

Police were in the process of interrogating the accused and attempting to find the source of the weapons the gang possessed.