Cuttack: Taking a principal aide and sharp shooter of the Dhal Samant brothers has brought dividends for police in the Subhadrapur firing case.

Following day-long interrogations, the cops learnt from Ashis Kumar Behera the source of the arms and ammunition that was used to fire at Bijay Kumar Pal.

The cops had suspected that it was part of a conspiracy to eliminate three contractors who had refused to pay extortion money to the sibling's henchmen and had sought permission from the court of judicial magistrate first class to take the to Behera, 32, in remand on Monday.

Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Akhileswar Singh said: "Ashis Kumar Behera, upon interrogation, admitted that he had procured three pistols and 55 ammunitions from a firearms supplier in Bihar that was arranged by Sushant Dhal Samant. He later passed those on to BJD councillor of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Ranjita Biswal."

"But we are yet to ascertain the identity of the Bihar-based supplier," Singh said. He informed that Behera's remand period ended at 11am on Tuesday.

The cops had registered a case against Behera in the case, allegedly conspired by Sushant from within Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar. On February 23, Mrutyunjaya Nayak alias Miku, fired at Pal outside his home in Sadar police limits.

Investigations later revealed that Biswal and Sarat Behera facilitated the crime by handing over a packet containing the firearms to Miku.

However, the cops were not able to zero down on

the source of the arms Ranjita had allegedly passed on to Miku before taking Behera in remand.