No matter how strict gun control laws may be in India, the fact is that Uttar Pradesh tops the list of both legal and illegal arms possessed by civilians.

Minor fights between neighbors now result in shots being fired and most of these incidents of indiscriminate firing take place with illegal weapons - both in the form of crude country-made pistols and well-finished illegally manufactured arms.

The UP police has so far been unable to track down the suppliers of these illegal weapons. However, with the recent discovery of an illegal weapons factory in Agra and now the arrest of two pistol suppliers in the city, it is becoming clear that a parallel business of illegal arms manufacture and sale is operating in UP. Incidentally, this is fuelling the internecine tensions that are on the rise in the state.

The Agra Police has made a sizeable discovery of illegal arms in the city in the past few months and the recent arrest of Furkan and Raja Khan, who used to sell illegally manufactured pistols and their ammunition only to Muslims, has created an uproar in the intelligence agencies.

The duo claims to have sold at least 50 such pistols in Agra, all of which had been brought from Munger in Bihar and all of them in possession of Muslims. Four semi-automatic pistols, two magazines and four cartridges were also recovered from them.

Furkan told India Today that he is a labourer in a shoe factory but he also carries pistols hidden in shoe boxes to sell them to clients. SSP Agra D C Dubey told India Today that Furkan seems to be connected to elements in Pakistan as his phone list had several numbers listed from the neighbouring.

A supplier named Aman was also involved in this racket. So far, the police has been able to recover 20 names and addresses of the people who purchased these pistols.

ARMS SOLD TO MEMBERS OF MUSLIM COMMUNITY

The SSP claimed that both these suppliers sold pistols only to those belonging to the Muslim community. Some other accomplices of these two are being searched and as soon as they are nabbed, their entire planning will be unravelled, including the purpose of deliberately arming only one community with illegal and untraceable weapons. He said that it is possible that these weapons could be used in a communal incident in the city in the future, so the recovery of each and every illegal weapon was paramount.

He said that Furkan used to buy one pistol for Rs 15,000 in Munger and sold it for Rs 30,000 in Agra. Furkan has also travelled to Pakistan and the police in investigating his possible links to Pakistani smugglers and the ISI.

The SSP said that Furkan was soon to receive another consignment of 10 pistols from Munger, but he got arrested beforehand. Another agent's name has come to light in Firozabad and he is also being investigated.

Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad Chairman Sami Aghai told India Today that Islam is against all illegal businesses, but no innocent Muslim should be implicated in criminal cases. Some young BJP activists are trying to give this illegal weapons sale a communal colour and the police and administration should be wary of such attempts to poison the city's atmosphere by the BJP.

Also read:

Agra Police seizes replicas of Webley Scott, Beretta pistols; arms dealer arrested

Agra conversion: UP Cleric threatens to pick up arms against government

WATCH | Meerut: DRI recovers Rs 1 crore, huge cache of arms from retired Colonel's house