BHUBANESWAR: Nayagarh police busted an illegal firearms manufacturing unit in the reserve forest area and arrested four persons in this connection on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Rajesh Kumar Pradhan (27), Bibhuti Parida (27), Tapan Parida (25) and Gobardhana Parida (48), all natives of Daspalla. A double-barrel breech-loading pistol and a single barrel muzzle loading gun were also seized from them.
On receiving information that Pradhan was in possession of illegal firearms, Daspalla police conducted a raid at the manufacturing unit in the reserve forest area and nabbed the four from the spot along with the firearms.
Police said the miscreants had been manufacturing the illegal weapons for the last few months and selling them to other anti-socials. The cops are also probing if they used the guns to commit crimes like dacoity and robbery.
Nayagarh SP S Susree said the accused were earlier also involved in illegal arms and wildlife poaching cases.
“Verification is underway to ascertain if they had any links with the anti-socials manufacturing illegal firearms in Ganjam and Cuttack districts,” she added.