post news network
Bhubaneswar, May 16: A gun manufacturing unit was busted from Panichhatra under Jankia police limits of Khurda district Saturday, following the arrest of two youths while they were moving with live arms near Tata Housing Chhak.
Two others who ran the unit were also arrested. A huge haul of arms and ammunition – one country-made single shot gun with 17 rounds of ammunition, three unfinished revolvers, gun powder (100 gm) and empty cartridge case – and gun-making materials such as raw iron, furnace, grinding stone, iron cutter blade, iron pipe, screw driver, hammer and wrench were seized from the gun factory.
Adhikari Moharana (43), and Babuli Moharana (60), both residents of Panichhatra were arrested for running the unit in the disguise of a blacksmith shop for two decades.
On reliable information from the Quick Reaction Team (QAT) led by Aakash Rana, Tamando police spotted two bike-borne youths moving suspiciously near Kalinga Vihar on Ghatika Road. During verification, a 7.65 mm pistol with three rounds of live ammunition from one of the boys while a country-made revolver with five rounds of live ammunition from the other were seized. They tried to escape but were overpowered by cops immediately.
The duo was identified as Santan Baliarsingh (24) of Jagannathprasad at Andharua under Chandaka police limits and Ranendra Pratap (18), also of Andharua.
It was the semi-automatic 7.65 mm pistol seized from Baliarsingh that raised suspicion among cops. “Such sophisticated arms could have been made in a bigger unit. The 7.65 mm is manufactured in Munger district of Bihar and smuggled into the state. We suspected presence of a bigger racket. The duo, then, told us about the unit and we called Operation Black Smoke which was executed by the QAT,” Police Commissioner RP Sharma said. The duo were also arrested in 1990 by the Khurda police.
