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New Delhi: In a breakthrough, the Delhi Police Crime Branch on Wednesday busted a massive arms smuggling module.

The operation has identified Shehbaz Ansari, a notorious smuggler currently tracked to Bangladesh, as the mastermind who allegedly supplied the high-end weapons used in the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.

The crackdown played out in a series of coordinated raids across March 2026, resulting in the arrest of 10 key operatives and the recovery of a deadly arsenal of foreign-made firearms.

The "Shehbaz Ansari" Connection

According to the Delhi Police, Shehbaz Ansari is the kingpin of a conspiracy that connects local gangsters to ISI handlers across the border.

Living as a fugitive abroad, Ansari has been managing a supply chain that channels military-grade weaponry into India via the Indo-Nepal border.

"Shehbaz Ansari is not just a smuggler; he is a strategic asset for cross-border handlers," a senior officer stated during the press conference.

"Our investigation confirms he was the primary source for the sophisticated weapons, including the AN-94 and Zigana pistols, used by the shooters in the Sidhu Moosewala murder. 

He continues to provide lethal hardware to gangsters like Rahim and Shiva to execute targeted hits in the Delhi-NCR region," the officer stated further.

A Month of Precision Strikes

The operation began in early March following a tip-off about a fresh consignment entering the capital.

The timeline of arrests reveals a systematic dismantling of the module:

March 13: The first major blow was dealt in the Delhi-6 (Walled City) area. Three individuals were nabbed, followed by the arrest of Sonu Gupta from Jaunpur, who was intercepted while transporting five illegal weapons.

March 17: Police apprehended Ghanshyam in Shahdara, recovering two high-end Turkish-made pistols.

March 20: A "Bad Character" (BC) of the area, Nishant Arora, was caught with two pistols and 11 live cartridges. Simultaneously, a raid in Khurja led to the arrest of Nawab, another key distributor.

March 23: In a move to cripple the module’s operational security, Mohammad Noman was arrested. Noman’s specific role was to destroy mobile phones and SIM cards used in the syndicate's encrypted communications.

March 24: The final arrest took place in Sikandrabad, effectively cutting off the module’s remaining local links.

In total, the Crime Branch seized 21 sophisticated firearms, 200 live cartridges, and 10 mobile phones.

The Bangladesh Trail

Delhi Police confirmed that Shehbaz Ansari’s current location has been narrowed down to Bangladesh.

Authorities are now working with central intelligence agencies and international counterparts to initiate deportation proceedings.

Investigators believe the syndicate utilised customised commercial drones to drop weapons near the Punjab border and used iron boxes on air cargo routes to Nepal to bypass traditional security checks.