The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has uncovered a shocking facet of organized crime with the arrest of a 67-year-old woman, who allegedly used her age as a perfect disguise to traffic illegal firearms to gangsters operating in the National Capital Region and neighboring states.
The Arrest and the Deceptive Disguise
Acting on intelligence about an arms smuggling network, a team from the Special Cell's Northern Range conducted a targeted operation on Saturday. The operation, led by Inspector Rakesh Kumar under the supervision of ACP Rahul Kumar Singh, culminated in the apprehension of the suspect, identified as Rambiri.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Krishan Kumar, Rambiri strategically exploited her elderly appearance to avoid police scrutiny while transporting consignments of deadly weapons. Intelligence reports indicated her modus operandi involved frequent train journeys to Madhya Pradesh to procure firearms, which she would then transport to Delhi and Meerut for sale to hardened criminals and gangsters.
A Cache of Weapons and a Long Criminal History
At the time of her arrest, the police team successfully intercepted and recovered a significant consignment of illegal arms. The haul included four semi-automatic sophisticated pistols along with three extra magazines, highlighting the scale of her operations.
Investigations revealed that Rambiri is not a novice offender but has a protracted history in serious organized crime. Police sources state that after her husband's death in 2003, she gravitated towards habitual criminals and became entrenched in a syndicate.
Her criminal portfolio includes involvement in a major 2008 bank robbery in Gurgaon involving Rs 1.48 crore and another robbery in Haridwar. The following year, in 2009, she and her associates attempted a bank robbery in Delhi's Kamla Market area.
From MCOCA to Firearms: A Return to Crime
Due to her persistent role in organized crime, a stringent case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was registered against her and her associates in 2009. This led to her being in judicial custody from 2009 until 2017.
However, in a clear indication of her deep-rooted links to the underworld, police allege that after her release from jail, Rambiri reconnected with her criminal network. She then pivoted her illicit activities to focus specifically on the procurement and supply of illegal firearms, a trade that eventually led to her latest arrest by the Special Cell.
This case underscores the innovative and often overlooked methods employed by crime syndicates to further their trade, using societal perceptions of vulnerability as a potent tool for evasion.
