New Delhi, Jun 20 (IANS): Two men have been arrested for their involvement in manufacturing and selling arms and ammunition to criminals in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Delhi Police said on Thursday. The police have recovered 30 semi-automatic pistols from the accused.

The two have been identified as Pawan Singh and Chandar Singh, both residents of Dhar, in MP.

"On June 18, we received information that a consignment of illegal arms would be delivered in Rohini area. Our surveillance led to the arrest of the two suspects," said Manishi Chandra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Cell.

A search led to the seizure of 30 illegal pistols, chandra said, adding a case has been registered.

"During interrogation, the accused said they had been involved in the crime for over 10 years. They said their family members manufacture arms which are supplied to various parts of the country, including Delhi," said Chandra.

Police said accused Pawan used iron scrap and other material to manufacture semi-automatic pistols.

"Pawan used bicycle-frame for fabricating the weapon. The spring for slide and magazine is prepared from iron wire drawn from tyres of heavy vehicles while the trigger and hammer are rigged up by tweaking hard iron cannibalised from the shaft of scrapped vehicles," said Chandra.

Police said that after assembling the weapon parts, the accused used lathe machine and filers to give the weapon a smooth final touch.

"It was further revealed that the entire process cost them around Rs 7 thousand and that one finished pistol was sold for about Rs 25 thousand. In March we had arrested two persons from whom 52 pistols were recovered. Pawan is found to be the actual manufacturer of the consignment," Chandra added.