The city police on Tuesday recovered an AK-56 assault rifle and three pistols from three arms dealers.

The trio have been arrested. One among them Mantu Sharma, 36, is said to be an armyman-turned-criminal, involved in arms trade for long.

Among the arms recovered were two pistols of .30 bore with two bullets and a magazine, a pistol of .25 bore (Czech Republic-made) with 50 bullets. Apart from these, an AK-56, two bullets and magazine were also found on them.

“The police got the information that Mantu Sharma alias Sanjay Singh, who is a resident of Aurangabad, was staying in Patna on rent with his family. He was actively involved in arms dealing. Based on the tip-off, a team was formed under city superintendent of police Jayant Kant for his arrest. Mantu, said to be a retired armyman, is into the business for long. Two arms-related cases are pending against him at Gandhi Maidan police station,” said senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj.

He added: “We received the tip-off around 12noon on Tuesday. We arrested Mantu from a house at Indira Nagar on the New Bypass under Kankerbagh police station. He was staying in the house with his family. Two pistols, one manufactured abroad, along with bullets were found on him. The team interrogated him and Mantu gave the whereabouts of his two associates — Rakesh Singh (27) and Babloo Kumar (21), both residents of Nalanda.”

The police raided the houses of the duo at Indira Nagar and found a pistol and the AK-56 on them.

“The rifle looks original but some changes have been made. During interrogation, Mantu said he and his two associates used to supply arms to the Maoists in Bihar, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. We are yet to find out the place or people from where the three got the arms. The probe will lead us to the nexus. The other two men were booked under the Arms Act on more than one occasion,” Raj said.