Agartala, Oct 29 (IANS) The Tripura Police on Thursday seized 200 rounds of live cartridges from a passenger-carrying vehicle during a naka checking operation at Maharani in Gomati district and arrested an arms trafficker in connection with the seizure, police said.
A senior police official confirmed the seizure and arrest, saying that the vehicle, a Max, was travelling from Agartala towards Raishyabari in Dhalai district when it was intercepted by police near Maharani Police Outpost.
According to the official, police stopped the vehicle during a routine checking operation and conducted a search, during which 200 rounds of live cartridges were recovered.
One person, identified as Bimal Chakma alias Jayanta Lal Chakma, 37, was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident.
However, police have withheld the identity of the arrested person, citing the ongoing investigation.
Following the seizure, police launched a probe to determine the source of the cartridges and their intended destination.
Investigators are also examining the circumstances under which the ammunition was being transported and whether other individuals were involved in the consignment.
The investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances surrounding the transportation of the live cartridges and determine whether others were involved in the case.
Tripura has witnessed multiple arrests of suspected arms dealers, mostly from Bihar, over the past few years, with most of the cases involving illegal firearms allegedly smuggled into the Northeastern state, often through train routes.
On September 6, in a joint operation, the Tripura Police and Assam Rifles arrested two suspected arms dealers after they arrived in Agartala from Bihar.
During the search, two pistols, three magazines and eight rounds of 7.65 mm ammunition, along with two mobile phones, were recovered from their possession.
In a joint operation, the Tripura Police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had earlier arrested two suspected arms and drug peddlers after they arrived in Agartala on an express train.
The Tripura Police personnel and RPF troops recovered a loaded pistol and around 100 bottles of banned cough syrup from the possession of two youths from Bihar after detaining them at the Agartala railway station.
In November last year, the Tripura Police arrested three persons, including an alleged arms supplier from Bihar, after seizing two country-made firearms and four magazines during a patrol operation in Agartala.
On May 8 last year, eight pistols and 16 empty magazines were recovered from an express train at Agartala railway station.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) and RPF, in a joint operation, recovered the arms from the Tripura Sundari Express after the train arrived from Punjab’s Firozpur.
Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the Northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues, smuggling of drugs, arms and various other contrabands.
Except for some patches, most of the frontier had been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, cross-border illegal movements by infiltrators and inimical elements.
–IANS
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