Sambalpur, Aug. 25: Police today arrested six members of a gang for possession of firearms and ammunition. Eight firearms were seized from them.

Sambalpur police superintendent Akhilesvar Singh said: "All the arrested persons have criminal antecedents and are part of tender, transport and land mafia. They were operating in Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts and are involved in a few cases of extortion," said Singh.

The accused were identified as Sanjeeb Khandelwal, 28, of Nandpara, Anand Natha, 32, of Kumbharpara, Md Sarif, 39, of Motijharan, Saddam Hussain, 25, of forest colony in Motijharan, Bulu, alias Kunjabihari Kumbhar, 27, of Kanteipali and Sk Mujibuddin of Kumbharpara in Sambalpur.

The members of this gang are involved in fixing tenders for different contracts, transport contracts and also in the sale of land. They also extort money from traders.

The police have seized eight firearms, including one 9mm Mauser, two 7.62 Mausers, two revolvers, two single-shot and one double-barrelled country-made gun, besides 14 rounds of ammunition from their possession.

While two cases have been registered at the Town police station, three have been registered at the Dhanupali police station and one at Sadar police station of Sambalpur in connection with the arrests.

Following a tip-off, the police raided several places in the city and arrested them. "At least eight other members of the group are still at large. We have already identified them. They will be arrested shortly," Singh said.

He said: "The gangsters had procured the firearms from Bihar. We have identified the agents who supply firearms. We are trying to track them down. Criminals usually deposit money in the bank accounts of the agents. Later, the agents supply the firearms to them."

On February 1, the police had arrested 12 persons for possessing illegal firearms and ammunition. All the accused were also tender and transport mafia.