Prayagraj: Illegal firearm manufacturing unit busted, 5 held

The accused are being questioned further to identify the buyers and ascertain if the firearms were being sold to cause disturbance during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, said police.

In a breakthrough, the special operations group (SOG) and Naini police busted an illegal firearm manufacturing unit and arrested five persons including a buyer on Monday. A large cache of firearms and manufacturing equipment was seized from the accused, said DCP trans-Yamuna Shraddha Narendra Pandey on Monday.

DCP trans-Yamuna Shraddha Narendra Pandey addressing press conference in Prayagraj on Monday. (HT PHOTO)

The accused are being questioned further to identify the buyers and ascertain if the firearms were being sold to cause disturbance during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, she added.

He further said that acting on a tip-off, the station house officer (SHO) of Naini police station Yashpal Singh and the SOG team under SI Ranjeet Singh arrested a person with firearms. On his confession, the police team raided a deserted building at Kashiram Awas and arrested four other persons while they were engaged in manufacturing illegal firearms.

Those arrested were identified as Atul Sonkar 21, Vijay Kumar Sonkar 30, Mohd Faizan 21, Vikas Gupta 20 and Monu Bhartiya 20 all residents of Naini area.

Atul Sonkar is the kingpin of the gang and manufactures firearms with the help of Vijay Kumar and Faizan. Vikas Gupta used to contact the customers while Monu Bhartiya was caught while buying the firearms, police said.

Two .32-bore automatic pistols, a revolver, five single-shot pistols (katta) of 315 bore, three half-made firearms, seven gun barrels, some ammunition along with a large number of tools and parts used in manufacturing firearms were recovered from the spot.

The single-shot katta manufactured by them was sold for ₹5000 to ₹10000 while the pistol and revolver were smuggled from the Munger district of Bihar and were sold for ₹25000 to ₹30000 depending on the quality and need. Police officials further said the accused had sold a large number of firearms to criminals and youngsters in the region during the last few months.