Malda arms haul

KOUSIK SEN, TT, Raiganj, Aug. 15: Police raided a house in a Malda village this morning and unearthed an illegal arms-making unit.

Seven persons, including six from Munger in Bihar, were arrested during the raid and a number of firearms and several rounds of bullets seized.

"It is one of the largest seizures of firearms in recent times in the district. Our officers are probing the case and questioning those who have been arrested. We suspect that such a huge cache of arms was being made for some organised crime," said Arnab Ghosh, the superintendent of police of Malda.

Police sources the house at Debipur village belonged to one Lutfal Haque.

"When we raided the house, we found that six of the persons were from Munger. They were possibly brought in for making the firearms," a police officer said.

"In total, we found 48 pieces of pistols and several unfinished firearms, along with magazines and some equipment, including a drill machine. Such equipment are used to make firearms," the officer added.

Over 400 rounds of bullets were also seized.

As the police team searched the house, they also found 25 fake currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination.

"We suspect that the arms were being manufactured for bulk supply. We need to find out who the buyers were," another officer said.