The Cuttack Commissionerate police have unearthed an illegal gun manufacturing unit flourishing in a remote part of Choudwar town following the arrest of a gunrunner in Cuttack on Saturday.
Raiding the unit at Shankarpur under the Choudwar police station, 25 km from here, the police arrested Jayant Ojha, a blacksmith, who was manufacturing arms and ammunitions. The police also arrested city-based antisocial Kahnu Charan Sahu, who had landed up at Jayant’s unit to purchase a single-shot country-made pistol, informed Twin City Police Commissioner RK Sharma here on Sunday.
Sharma said Jayant was using his unit for last several years to manufacture illegal arms, including revolvers. Sources said Jayant’s deceased father Birakishore was also involved in such trade and he was arrested in 2004. .
Police seized a revolver, a single-shot country-made pistol, four live bullets, seven pieces of burnt ammunitions, 250 grams of gunpowder, a drilling machine, wooden butts, an iron barrel, vice machines and other manufacturing equipments from Jayant’s unit.
Jayant priced the pistols at Rs 10,000 and revolvers with four bullet magazines were priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000, Sharma said, adding that better quality illegal arms procured from Bihar and Jharkhand were also sold by Jayant at a price ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.
The source of illegal firearms was traced during proactive intelligence gathering by the police in view of the ongoing electioneering and crackdown on anti-socials. The city police during the past six weeks have executed at least 1101 NBWs and bound down 1080 persons after taking undertakings from them under section 107 of CrPC, the Police Commissioner informed.
The police also during this period have registered at least 92 excise cases and have arrested 90 persons in this connection for trading in illegal IMFl and country-made liquor. More than 1800 liters of liquor have been seized by the city police, Sharma informed.
He further disclosed that out of 950 licensed gun owners in the city, 703 have already deposited their arms with the police as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India. Similarly, about 150 of these gun owners, including security guards have been exempted from surrendering their arms and ammunitions.