Malda police chief Dilip Mondal holds up the rifle. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Sept. 3: Two youths were arrested this afternoon from a hotel here with an AK-47 rifle in their possession.

Police have identified the two as Ranjit Sarkar and Suprabhat Biswas, residents of Pakua in the Bamungola police station area.

They were arrested from a hotel on Rabindra Avenue and brought to the Englishbazar police station along with the rifle and the Maruti WagonR they were using.

Malda superintendent of police Dilip Mondal came down to the police station to question the youths.

“They had planned to deliver the weapon to someone here, but our sources tipped us off and the hotel was cordoned off by 3pm,” Mondal said.

Ranjit has told police that he worked as an agent for a private financial company and Suprabhat was a trader.

The duo apparently told the police that the gun had been handed over to them at Pakua by a man from Bangladesh. It was meant for someone here whose name they refused to divulge.

“The Bamungola police station area is open to the Bangladesh border and has become a hotbed for the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and other militant outfits,” Mondal said.

DYFI leader Sekhar Sinha was gunned down with an assault rifle on January 22 last year.

KLO militant Malkhan Singh and 13 others from the area were arrested. In subsequent raids in May and November 2006, an AK-56 rifle, two carbines, a 9mm pistol, a large quantity of ammunition and grenades were seized.

“There are several unanswered questions,” the district police chief said today.