BHUBANESWAR: In a successful decoy operation, the Special Crime Unit (SCU) of Commissionerate Police busted a major inter-state arms dealer gang, arresting two Bihar natives and seizing a carbine with two magazines, five semi-automatic pistols and nine rounds of ammunition from them.
Addressing mediapersons, police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said SCU officers had got credible information that the two accused Divyanshu Kumar and Chandan Kumar, both aged 26 years and natives of Bihar’s Khagaria district, were active in the illegal arms trade in Odisha.
Police officers posed as arms procurers and struck a deal with Divyanshu and Chandan to buy the weapons from them. After being lured, the two arrived in the city and were apprehended near Malisahi late on Friday night. The arms and ammunition were in their possession, he added.
Investigation revealed the accused had procured the firearms from Bihar’s Munger. As part of the operation, undercover cops had agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh to Divyanshu and Chandan to procure the carbine and Rs 50,000 for each semi-automatic pistol.
Police said the duo is likely to have earlier supplied illegal weapons in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and other parts of the state. Their past deals are being verified, they added.
Further investigation is on to uncover more details regarding the supply chain, financial backers and wider criminal network involved in the arms racket.
“This operation marked a significant milestone in the ongoing drive to disrupt and dismantle illegal arms syndicates operating in the city,” Singh said.