Ranchi police have arrested a driver of the state welfare department along with two others for smuggling bullets.
Police recovered 40 live cartridges of .315 bore rifle and an arms licence from the trio near Durga Mandir on Ratu Road under Sukhdeonagar thana on Saturday afternoon.
Welfare department driver Niranjan Kumar Singh (38) lives at Balihar Road, Morabadi. The other two accused Babloo Khan (35) and Asif Ahmed (38) are Hindpiri residents.
Kotwali DSP Bhola Prasad Singh said an FIR was lodged against the trio under Sections 25, 26, 29, 30 and 35 of the Arms Act. They were forwarded to judicial custody at Birsa Munda Central Jail.
The police will visit state welfare department at Project Building to see if Niranjan was a government servant or an ad hoc worker, the DSP said.
Niranjan used to sell bullets to criminals after procuring them in huge quantities from government-authorised shops using his licence.
He used to sell bullets, which he bought for Rs 140 each, for Rs 500 apiece, making it a highly profitable business.
Besides his own job profile, his late father Baikunth was in Jharkhand Police, making Niranjan an unlikely candidate for this sort of crime.
"We had information that Niranjan is scheduled to supply some fire weapons and live bullets to criminals. A team from Sukhdeonagar and Gonda police stations conducted raids and arrested him while he was delivering bullets to Babloo and Asif," he added.
Probe revealed that Niranjan had procured 182 bullets on six occasions from January to May this year.
Niranjan and Babloo have criminal records. Niranjan was earlier booked under Sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC at Pandra police station.
Babloo was earlier booked and arrested by Ranchi police on the basis of an FIR lodged against him under Sections 395 (dacoity) and 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity) of the IPC. He currently works as a private staffer of a lawyer at Ranchi civil courts.
