Calcutta is fast emerging as a ?friendly neighbourhood? for goons on the run from other states.

The police record says it all ? several gangsters from other states have been arrested in the city over the past few months.

Barely 24 hours after the arrest of a ?most-wanted? criminal from Orissa in Thakurpukur, Bowbazar police early on Tuesday swooped down on a goon from Uttar Pradesh, Kailash Prasad, at a hideout in Harin Bari Lane. A country-made revolver was seized from him.

A preliminary probe suggests he was an arms dealer and had been holed up in the city for a couple of years. Recently, he bought a flat in Taratala and was living there with his wife.

Admitting that several criminals from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have taken shelter in the city over the past few years, deputy commissioner (central) Ajoy Kumar said: ?It?s impossible to keep a tab on criminals from other states unless we get specific information from the local police. We have arrested several of them following tip-offs from the local police stations.?

A recent probe by the special branch of Calcutta Police suggests that goons on the run arrive in the city through local contacts and put up in areas like Phoolbagan, Rajabazar, Topsia, Garden Reach, Metiabruz, Entally, Park Circus and in some of the suburbs.

?As slums comprise a major part of these areas, finding a shelter there is not difficult. They stay in a room taken on rent and remain in touch with gang members. Local residents are mostly in the dark about their identities,? said special branch officer.

A senior officer at Lalbazar cited the example of Mohammad Rafique, a contract killer from Uttar Pradesh involved in more than 20 murders, who had been staying at Chhatu Babu slum in Entally for over a year. The city police were clueless about him.

The force here was caught napping when a Special Operation Group team from Uttar Pradesh raided the hideout and arrested him.

?Our officers raid suspected hideouts regularly and all police stations, especially in the sensitive areas, have been put on alert. We are also in touch with the police of the neighbouring states to flush out criminals staying here,? police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee said.