Firearms factory busted in Bengal, third one in four months

“On the basis of a tip off, a team of policemen drawn from Kaliachak and Mothabari police stations conducted a raid in a grill factory just opposite to Alipur-II gram panchayat office,” police said.

Bengal police on Friday night arrested two persons and seized 24 weapons after it unearthed an illegal firearms factory in Malda district. This is the third illegal firearms factory raided by police in the past five months. Malda district police superintendent Arnab Ghosh said, the two persons who wee arrested belonged to Bihar’s Munger district.

Bengal police on Friday night arrested two persons and seized 24 weapons after it unearthed an illegal firearms factory in Malda district. (HT Photo)

“On the basis of a tip off, a team of policemen drawn from Kaliachak and Mothabari police stations conducted a raid in a grill factory just opposite to Alipur-II gram panchayat office. We have seized 24 illegal firearms and big quantity of materials used for making firearms. Most of these were one-shoters (crude but lethal firearms that need to be loaded after every shot). Initial questioning has revealed that they were engaged in making firearms at the unit for more than a month,” ” said Arnab Ghosh.

The owner of the grill unit, Farid Sheikh, is on the run, said police officers.

On May 31, Malda Police unearthed a firearms factory in Naldubi area in the district and recovered 22 semi-finished pistols and arrested 10 persons. On July 30, the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police arrested six persons and seized 20 semi-finished firearms from a unit that used to operate behind the facade of a sweatmeat shop in Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas district, about 35 km away from Kolkata.

Fake Indian currency with a face value of ₹1 lakh was also seized in the raid, said K Kannan, deputy commissioner (zone 1) of Barrackpore Police . The six arrested were also residents of Munger.

On August 18, police in Murshidabad district arrested a class 11 student of Kaliachak High School with 20 firearms and 100 rounds of ammunition. Though investigation revealed that the weapons were made at a local unit, police could not reach the manufacturers.