The Soro police on Saturday arrested two criminals involved in smuggling of firearms. They were nabbed near the Sabira railway station after locals raised alarms while they were loitering in a suspicious manner under a bridge on Friday night
The arrested were identified as Niladri Pradhan (31) of village Jhanjaribahal under the Banharpal police station and Rami Tudu (20) of Mundabazar FCI under the Bikrampur PS. They were forwarded to court after being booked under Section 25 of the Arms Act.
Three country-made firearms, including two mousers, a revolver and 20 live cartridges, besides their cell phones, were seized from their possessions.
During interrogation, the duo confessed to Baleaswar Superintendent of Police Niti Sekhar that they had procured the arms from Gaya district of Bihar. They used to sell these arms in Bhubaneswar for `40,000 to `50,000 each to criminals against their purchase prices of `10,000 to `15,000 each.
During the interrogation, p[police also learnt that Nildari alias Bhandari was the main accused and Tudu was assisting him.
Niladri had criminal antecedents and he was previously convicted for five years in a case of chain snatching and assaulting an ASI of Police.