Munger, Sept. 9: The flickering lights look like bomb pinheads in the darkness. Four men stealthily alight from a country boat as soon as it drops anchor at a diara (river island) on the Ganga in Munger.

“Walk straight, you have the right men on the boat anchored there,” barks a voice from the boat. The four make their way through the mud and slush. The makeshift firearms bazaar, operating out of boats, holds the assurance of striking a secret arms deal.

Recent floods have forced gun makers and gunrunners to innovate — shifting their arms business from the diaras to country boats anchored in the river.

Not only has standing crops and public property bore the brunt of destruction by floods in the diaras of river Ganga in eastern Bihar, the illegal firearms manufacturing units in Munger have also been dealt a major blow. However, country boats cannot allow illegal gunrunners to operate in peace.

On September 2, acting on a tip-off, Muffasil police station in Munger raided a floating firearms manufacturing unit on the riverbank in Heru diara and reco- vered some semi-finished firearms and tools for manufacturing firearms.

Station house officer Dinesh Kumar, who led the raid, told the media that the main technician of the unit, Ashok Tanti, was nabbed, while others managed to flee. “We were surprised to find such a floating arms manufacturing unit on the river. The man was busy at the drilling machine making firearms,” Kumar recalled.

Police seized two semi-finished 9mm pistols, two magazines, cartridges, base machine, drill machine, hammers along with dozens of tools for manufacturing firearms from the boat.

Jamalpur deputy superintendent of police Ranjan Kumar said investigations were on.

“Illegal arms manufacturers have the ability to replicate any weapon. The trade is booming in the district as a cottage industry. We had information that such units shift to boats during floods but this was our first experience in busting such a gun manufacturing unit,” said a senior officer.

Situated 9km away from Munger town, Banudha, a sleepy village, is famous for illegal firearms manufacturing units. Over the years, a number of villages in this district have turned into major suppliers of illegal firearms.