New Delhi, July 28: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has apprehended two additional key members linked to an international arms trafficking operation and a suspected terrorist network associated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). This brings the total number of arrests in this case to 18.
These arrests were made as part of an ongoing investigation into a significant arms smuggling and terror funding case initiated earlier this year.
According to the Crime Branch, the recent operation led to the capture of Mahfooz Ali, also known as Bobby or Kabootar (43), and Mohammad Ahmed (35). Both are believed to be crucial members of an international arms trafficking group led by fugitive gangster Shahbaz Ansari.
With these arrests, the total number of individuals apprehended in this case has reached 18. Authorities have recovered 32 modern foreign weapons and 363 live cartridges from various suspects linked to this network.
The operation was conducted by the Anti-Robbery and Snatching Cell (ARSC) of the Crime Branch, led by Inspector Man Singh and Sunder Gautam, under the supervision of ACP Sanjay Kumar Nagpal and DCP Chandra Kumar Singh.
These arrests were made in connection with FIR number 49/2026, which was filed on March 14 at the Crime Branch police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Arms Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Investigators have indicated that this case involves arms trafficking and a terror module. The group allegedly imported modern foreign weapons into India, supplying them to organized crime gangs, terrorist elements, and other anti-national networks.
Prior to these recent arrests, 16 suspects had already been detained. Police had seized 28 weapons, including a submachine gun, and 281 live cartridges from them.
Mahfooz Ali, known by aliases Bobby and Kabootar, has been identified as a resident of Jafrabad in Northeast Delhi. He completed education up to the eighth grade and initially worked in his family’s lock-making business after dropping out of school in 1998.
According to investigators, Mahfooz gradually became involved with active criminal gangs in Northeast Delhi. He was first arrested in 2006 for an attempted murder linked to gang rivalries. Over time, he became an active member of several organized crime groups involved in violent gang wars and contract killings.
Police records indicate his involvement in multiple murder cases, including those of Sabir Ali alias Nanhe, Irshad, Akil Mama, Zahid, and Nadeem alias Chacha Fadu. He has also been linked to several notorious criminals and gangsters operating in Delhi.
Reports suggest that Mahfooz’s name emerged in a 2019 case under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), after which he remained on the run for an extended period.
Investigators claim that Mahfooz had close ties with incarcerated gangster Hashim Baba and allegedly assisted him in various criminal activities.
According to police, in 2021, he aided the movement of shooters involved in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. Authorities allege that after the crime, he collected the mobile phones and internet dongles used by the shooters and disposed of them in the Yamuna River to destroy electronic evidence.
Police also allege that in 2022, under Hashim Baba’s instructions and in collaboration with another criminal associate, Rashid Cable, Mahfooz facilitated the transfer of a shipment of foreign pistols to associates of gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria from Punjab.
Investigators assert that this made him a crucial link in the supply chain of illegal foreign weapons to organized crime gangs active in North India.
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