Delhi teen held for flaunting firearm in social media reels

A 16-year-old boy was apprehended in Burari area of north Delhi for allegedly brandishing a firearm in videos uploaded on social media to impress followers, with police recovering a country-made pistol from his possession, an official said on Thursday.

The juvenile was apprehended after police received information that a boy had uploaded reels on social media while flaunting a firearm, the official said.

On the intervening night of May 13 and 14, police received a tip-off that the boy was roaming in Sunder Vihar, Burari.

Acting on the information, a police team conducted a raid and apprehended the juvenile. During a personal search, police recovered a country-made pistol from his possession.

Officials said it was confirmed that he was the same person seen brandishing the weapon in videos uploaded on social media.

During questioning, the juvenile allegedly told police that he had procured the firearm from a friend in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, around 10 days ago.

Police said he disclosed that he used the weapon to create and upload reels on social media to project an image and attract attention among followers.

The boy is primarily educated and his father is a listed history-sheeter at Swaroop Nagar police station, police said.

Efforts are underway to trace and apprehend the alleged supplier of the firearm, they said.