Busted: Arms smuggling bid foiled

51 cartons bearing 20,400 live cartridges of 12 bore shotgun weapon were recovered.

HARIPUR: Excise department officials claim to have seized ammunition worth hundreds of thousands of rupees, police sources said Tuesday. Kot Najibullah police said Inspector Nasir Mehmood of the excise department was doing routine checks when he intercepted a Land Cruiser coming from Wah Cantonment. During the search, he recovered 51 cartons bearing 20,400 live cartridges of 12 bore shotgun weapon. The official detained the three accused for illegally possessing and transporting ammunition worth about Rs700,000 and also impounded the vehicle. According to the police, the accused were identified as Iftikhar Ahmed, Hamza Iftikhar and driver Qazi Faheemul Hasan, who confessed they were arms dealers in Muzaffarabad and were transporting the consignment there.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2013.