Bhubaneswar: In a major breakthrough against the illegal arms trade, the Special Crime Unit (SCU) of the Commissionerate Police busted an inter-state gun-smuggling racket and arrested two persons from Bihar involved in the operation, police said Saturday.
The accused have been identified as Divyanshu Kumar (26) and Chandan Kumar (26), both residents of Bihar. According to police sources, the SCU received a tip-off about an active illegal gun trade in the area.
Acting on the information, officers posed as buyers and set up a trap to engage the smugglers, leading to their arrest. The SCU received specific intelligence about an active illegal gun trade operating within the city limits.
Acting on the tip-off, the team devised a plan to intercept the smugglers. Officers posed as prospective buyers and set up a trap to engage the smugglers.
After the smugglers agreed to deliver the firearms at a designated location in exchange for cash, the SCU team apprehended them near the Mali Sahi area.
The operation was executed swiftly between midnight on November 14 and the early hours of November 15, resulting in the arrest of the duo.
Police seized one carbine rifle with two magazines, five semi-automatic pistols, nine live rounds of ammunition, two mobile phones, and Rs 1,170 in cash from their possession.
According to officials, the duo had been supplying illegal firearms in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khurda, and other parts of the state.
The police booked them under Sections 109(1)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 25(1)(a), 25(1A), 25(1AA), 25(1B), and 29 of the Arms Act, 1959.
They are currently being interrogated to identify their supply chain, financiers, and any possible links to larger criminal syndicates. A further probe is underway.