Kalashnikov seller and buyer arrested | The Express Tribune

KARACHI:

Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in an intelligence-led operation arrested two individuals under the jurisdiction of the Brigade Police Station, an illegal arms supplier and a buyer .

The CTD also seized a Kalashnikov and bullets from the suspects as they entered into the illegal deal.

According to a CTD spokesperson on Monday, the supplier, identified as Muhammad Afzal, was an inter-provincial arms dealer who had transported the weapons from Peshawar.

The buyer, Muhammad Ahmed Awan, had selected a Kalashnikov via Facebook and WhatsApp and paid for it via EasyPaisa.

Muhammad Afzal worked for an arms dealer named Islam Shah based in Darra Adam Khel, Khyber district. The arrests took place as Afzal handed over the weapons to Awan, who had ordered the Kalashnikov with bullets for 130,000 rupees. Muhammad Afzal was previously arrested by the Model Colony police station for arms trafficking and was out on bail. Further investigations are ongoing. Darra Adam Khel, a famous arms manufacturing center for over 150 years, was earlier a tribal area but later came under the control of the KP government.

Darra’s gunsmiths have gained legal status and are a small, regulated industry, but many still prefer the centuries-old underground trade of arms trafficking.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th2024.