Police said the gang used to take payments online
At least seven people were arrested In Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar on Monday for buying and selling illegal weapons on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, the police said.
The accused - Azam Rizvi, Vivek Nagar, Manish Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Rishabh Prajapati, Vishal and Pratik Tyagi - were caught when the police launched a vehicle checking campaign after they received a tip that an illegal pistol was to be delivered.
When the accused were delivering the consignment to the buyers, the police arrested all of them.
Superintendent of Police Satyanarayan Prajapati said in a video statement on Facebook that Vishal and Pradeep had come to buy the pistols and had contacted the gang with Pratik Tyagi's help.
He said the gang used to take payments online.
Mr Prajapati also said that Rizvi, a resident of Meerut district, was involved in the illegal sale of pistols.
Five illegal pistols, cartridges a bike, a car and their mobile phones were seized during the operation.
It is learnt that the gang was involved in illegal trade in the surrounding districts for a long time, and the police were on the lookout for them.