An illegal arms factory was unearthed and a cache of pistols was recovered in Kiratpur during a joint operation of police and the SOG team, police said on Friday.
The illegal arms manufacturing unit, being run in a bunker constructed underground, was found during a raid at a mango orchard on July 8, SHO Kiratpur, M P Singh said.
The owner of the factory was arrested while his three accomplices are absconding, he said, adding, the team seized a large number of unfinished pistols, four finished 315 bore pistols, a drilling machine and other material and equipment from the site.
The owner, Mahfooz Ali, a native of Muzaffarnagar district, had been living at Kiratpur for the last ten years and had hired the orchard on contract for the last 4 years, police said.
His wife, Afroz, assisted him in his illegal venture by delivering the finished arms to customers in Muzaffarnagar, they said.
Ali had also been arrested four years ago for a similar crime.