The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police on Monday morning arrested a 42-year-old man with a cache of firearms near Sealdah railway station.
Two improvised single-shot firearms; four improvised 7mm semi-automatic pistols, each fitted with dual magazines; two live 8mm cartridges and six live 7.65mm cartridges have been recovered from his possession, said police.
A resident of Kalichak in Malda district, Hassan Sheikh reached Sealdah station on Hate Bazare Express around 5 am when he was arrested, said police.
“We had information about possible arms trafficking through the Sealdah route. Our officers were alert and after a proper search, Sheikh was arrested following the seizure. We are questioning him,” a police officer said, adding that a case has been lodged under the Arms Act.
“Preliminary interrogation has found that Sheikh procured improvised firearms and live ammunition from Kagharia in neighbouring Bihar,” the officer added.
The BJP, meanwhile, targeted the TMC- government, calling Kolkata a “paradise of bombs and guns”.
State BJP president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar in a post on X wrote: “… Under the Chief Minister’s policy of criminalization, West Bengal has now become an open playground for outsider criminals. Before every election, this failed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeks refuge in criminals to orchestrate vote rigging, giving them a ‘no worries’ attitude. Gun recoveries in the state’s alleys have become an everyday affair! Even this morning, a Malda-based criminal was caught near Kolkata’s gateway, Sealdah Station, with a massive cache of firearms. As both Chief Minister and Home Minister, she must immediately order a marathon interrogation of these criminals. Was a Sealdah-based… councilor behind this arms supply? The truth must come out! Who placed the order for this massive stockpile of weapons?”
However, the TMC is yet to react. When The Indian Express contacted TMC state vice-president and spokesperson Joy Prakash Majumder, he declined to comment on the issue.
Four days ago, a joint operation of Kolkata police, an Odisha STF, and Cuttack district police dismantled an illegal firearms manufacturing unit in Baradhuleswar, Cuttack, Odisha.
Four persons — Md Azam alias Buddhu (45), landlord Sarat Chandra Yadav (55), and alleged arms makers Md Abid Hussain alias Dablu alias Ostad (49) and Md Samsher Alam alias Kallu (46) — were arrested. Police also seized 29 semi-finished 7.65mm firearms, various semi-finished pistol components (bodies, sliders, butts, barrels), tools, raw materials, and lathe machines as well as machines for milling, drilling, and grinding had been seized.