New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS): Two members of an inter-state gun smuggling racket have been arrested here and 16 sophisticated pistols recovered from them, Delhi Police said Monday.

Dinesh Dabur, 25, and Sunil, 27, both residents of Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, were arrested Sunday from Sarai Kale Khan area in south Delhi and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

"Police recovered 16 semi-automatic pistols of 7.65 mm bore from their possession," a police officer said. Ten pistols were recovered from Dabur and six from Sunil.

"Dabur was the first to be arrested by the special cell, and based on his information, his associate Sunil was arrested from Agra in coordination with Uttar Pradesh Police," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav.

The consignment of weapons was to be supplied to criminals in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), he said.

The accused confessed to police that they procured the arms from a manufacturer based in Madhya Pradesh who was using them as couriers.

"The accused duo would supply weapons to every part of the country. Both of them would supply one such consignment every fortnight in Muzaffarnagar, Agra, Aligarh and Hathras of Uttar Pradesh -- and in Delhi and NCR," the officer said.

They travelled by train or bus after receiving the consignment from the arms dealer. After reaching their destination, they gave a call to the arms supplier who further coordinated with them.

Last year, the Delhi Police special cell arrested 33 gun runners and recovered 196 arms from them.

In most of the cases, the illegal weapons were manufactured and supplied from Dhar and Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, Munger in Bihar and later smuggled into Delhi and NCR.