The 20 year old firearm peddler communicated with people who wanted to buy the illegal firearms through Instagram calls. (Credit: Canva)The crime branch of the Pune city police have arrested a 20-year-old firearms peddler, who was allegedly selling country-made pistols through Instagram calls.The accused have been identified as Shaikh Ahmed alias Bablu Suraj Sayyad, a resident of Upper Indiranagar in Bibwewadi area of Pune.Police said Sayyad was wanted in at least three offences, including an attempted murder case at Khadak police station and two Arms seizure cases at Parvati and Wagholi police stations. Acting on a tip-off, a crime branch team led by police inspector Ram Rajmane nabbed the accused Sayyad in Latur district on June 16. He was then brought to Pune for further investigation, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajendra Mulik.A press release issued on Monday stated that five country-made pistols and seven live cartridges, all worth Rs 1.98 lakhs, were seized from Sayyad during the probe.Also Read | Chandigarh Police bust illegal arms network linked to Lucky Patial-Bambhia gangDeputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Gauhar Hasan said the accused was using Instagram for selling the pistols. As stated in the press release, the accused posted and circulated his photographs with country-made pistols on social media. He then communicated with people who wanted to buy the illegal firearms through Instagram calls.Probe also revealed the accused was in contact with the firearms suppliers from Umarti village in Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh, which is infamous for manufacturing and selling illegal guns across different states in India, under the unofficial brand name “Umarti Sikligar Arms”, or “USA”.Police said the accused acted as a middleman and was sending seekers of country made pistols to Umarti. A probe so far revealed that the accused also procured the firearms seized from him, from weapon racketeers in Umarti and other villages in Madhya Pradesh.Story continues below this adA team of about 105 police personnel from Pune city had raided Umarti in November last year. The raid was carried after a police probe revealed that a large number of firearms seized from the criminals in Pune over the last couple of years were procured from weapon racketeers in Umarti. Even after the massive raid, the supply of weapons from Umarti to the criminals in Pune, has continued.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our storiesTags:instagram