2 arms smugglers arrested in Bhubaneswar; 11 firearms, including carbine, seized

Bhubaneswar, Dec 7 (PTI) Odisha Police have arrested two suspected members of an inter-state arms trafficking network and seized 11 firearms, including a carbine, from their possession, a senior officer said on Sunday.

The Special Crime Unit (SCU) of the Commissionerate Police apprehended the two arms smugglers during a special operation in the Khandagiri area of Bhubaneswar on Friday, Police Commissioner S Devdutta Singh said.

The accused have been identified as Sumanta Naik (30), who hails from Angul district, and Soubhagya Naik (30) from Dhenkanal district, he said.

The accused persons' vehicle was intercepted when they were en route from Angul to Berhampur to deliver a substantial cache of weapons to criminal elements in the region, the officer said.

Singh said the illegal firearms included two 9mm pistols, eight 7.65mm pistols, and one automatic carbine.

The firearms were procured from Jharkhand and Bihar. Both individuals have extensive criminal backgrounds, with multiple cases registered against them, including violations of the Arms Act, robbery, and dacoity.

"We have intensified our drive against inter-district and intra-state gangs to break the supply chain. We have achieved considerable success," Singh said.

During the past months, 23 firearms, including, were seized by the Commissionerate Police.

"Now, another 11 weapons have been seized. We were working on forward and backward linkages," he added. PTI BBM BBM ACD