Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a BJP leader of Bareilly for alleged smuggling of cartridges.

Chaman Singh Chawada, circle officer of Nawabganj area in the district, told reporters on Monday: “The police had arrested one Lekh Raj of Hafijganj area in Bareilly a few days ago based on a purported video in which he was seen firing aimlessly and indiscriminately. We found during the inquiry that the pistol was illegal. Lekh Raj told the police that he used to get cartridges from Dinesh Kumar Gangwar, who would supply them illegally to many people. The police recovered a cartridge from the possession of Gangwar during his arrest.”

The family members of Gangwar, who is the BJP’s sector convener of the Aurangabad area, submitted an application to the police after his arrest on Sunday that he was falsely implicated in the case. They claimed some people had hatched a conspiracy to implicate Gangwar in the case.

“We have received the complaint from a family member of the accused but he has been arrested based on evidence and sent to jail,” added Chawada.

Manoj Sharma, BJP divisional president, told reporters: “Some criminals had fired at Gangwar on September 8 and escaped from there while one of their cartridges fell on the ground. The cops booked Gangwar when he went to Hafijganj police station with the same cartridge. He is innocent.”