india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 00:57 IST

The police in Bengal’s Murshidabad district seized 20 different kinds of firearms, 42 rounds of ammunition and arrested two suspected arms dealers at about Sunday midnight in what was described by them as the biggest haul this year in the district.

The arrested duo were identified as Robu Sheikh (36), a resident of Umrapur village under Suti police station in Murshidabad district and Rafikul Sheikh (29), a resident of Sahabajpur village under Pakur police station area of Jharkhand.

Among the weapons seized by the police were five 7 mm pistols, four muskets and 11 pipe guns (country made crude firearms capable of firing single shots before they are loaded again). As many as 11 rounds ammunition of 12 bore firearms, 13 rounds ammunition of .8 mm pistol and 18 rounds ammunition of 7.65 mm pistol were also seized from the possession of the duo.

“After some untoward incidents in the past one and a half months, we increased vigilance in all police station areas to stop gun running and we also managed to arrest a few persons with some arms and ammunition earlier. Interrogating them, we came to know that Robu Sheikh (who was arrested on Sunday) was the kingpin behind smuggling and selling of firearms in Murshidabad district. The officers of Suti police station were closely monitoring his activities,” Mukesh, Superintendent of Malda district police said.

To get hold of the duo, the police laid a trap.

“Recently an officer of Suti police station contacted Robu in the guise of a customer and placed an order. Robu was nabbed when he came to deliver the weapons. He told us that he used to get the firearms from Rafikul Sheikh of Jharkhand. Rafikul was also arrested when he came to deliver the weapons,” said an officer.

“The price of each of the bullets seized is around Rs 600. They sell a pipe gun for about Rs 5,000. The price of the illegal 9 mm pistol can be around Rs 20,000,” said an officer.

This year till September 28, Murshidabad police have seized a total of 476 firearms and 1,056 rounds ammunition and arrested 353 people.

According to the last published National Crime Records Bureau data, in 2016, Bengal accounted for 3,123 (or 8.41%) of the 37,116 firearms and 5,219 (4.88%) of the 106,900 rounds of ammunition seized around the country.