Bihar ATS, set up after bomb blasts in Bodhgaya and Patna, arrested three arms suppliers from Munger in connection with supplying arms to lower cadre of Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu & Kashmir.

As Munger arms, which are mainly assembled copying superior technology, came cheaper, they had been in big demand and often were transported by trains to Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, UP, Haryana and Rajasthan. Sophisticated arms, ranging from duplicates of INSAS riffle to carbine and AK-47, come for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

This was the first operation by Bihar ATS, headed by an inspector general of police.

A Bihar ATS team that first arrested one Arun Singh alias Mikku, a resident of Faizabad, from Munger helped the team arrest main arms supplier Mohammed Jamshed from Munger’s Bardah village — infamous for manufacturing and assembling illegal arms.

They later arrested Surendra Paswan, a resident of Jamalpur, who worked as a conduit between purchasers and suppliers. The three were produced at a Patna court on 13 August and were sent to police custody.

An ATS source said the three had been arrested on suspicion of supplying arms to the Jammu & Kashmir-based terror outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen, after receiving information on a small arms consignments being sent from Munger by train route via Delhi. The accused revealed that as Munger arms makers had of late started copying superior arms-making technology, Bardah and Barghe villagers had been getting frequent demands for arms, reportedly for lower cadre of the terror outfit.

The ATS source added Mohammed Jamshed might reveal names of more villagers in the trade. “There are also reports of Munger arms makers buying Myanmar arms in auction and copying them and even embossing local arms with international make signs”, said the sources.

Intelligence sources said Bihar ATS needed to dig in more efforts to expose more arms conduits and suppliers. The ATS team also seized four pistols and six mobile phones from the three accused and has been verifying contacts. Last year, a woman courier was arrested with arms by Jamalpur railways police. About 100 Munger arms were seized from an Ambassador car, concealed inside the headlights, in Delhi.

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