Barrackpore: An arms manufacturing unit that had been operating in Agarpara, North 24-Parganas, for the past four months was busted on Wednesday.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Calcutta police found 62 semi-finished pistols, machines and other tools required to manufacture guns.
The location of the factory was revealed during the interrogation of two men arrested from Rabindra Sarani in central Calcutta two days ago.
"Mohammad Aslam, a resident of Munger in Bihar, and Mohammad Asafaq Ahmed, from Sahebhunj in Jharkhand, were arrested after they were found roaming around Rabindra Sarani. While interrogating them, we came to know about the arms manufacturing unit," an STF officer said.
Aslam and Asafaq were part of a gang planning to set up a large-scale business in firearms manufacturing.
"We raided a plastic godown in the Kamarhati area on Wednesday and seized a lathe machine, a milling machine and two drilling machines. We are yet to ascertain whether these machines had been brought for the expansion of the Agarpara unit or the suspects planned to set up another factory in the city," a police officer probing the incident said.
Three persons, including a man from Munger in Bihar, were arrested in front of Manohar Das Tarag near Esplanade around 10 days ago when they were allegedly caught dealing in fake Indian currency notes and semi-finished improvised firearms. The STF seized 40 semi-finished guns and counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 1 lakh from the suspects, police said.
The leads provided by the arrested trio led the police to a laddu manufacturing unit in the Jagaddal area of Barrackpore, where they found an arms manufacturing unit.
"The arms unit had been running under the cover of a sweets factory. Twenty semi- finished small arms were found at the unit along with lathe machines and other gadgets," a police officer said.
The police suspect the guns manufacturing factories had already produced a huge cache of improvised firearms before the raids. "We suspect the arms were supplied to clients in Calcutta and nearby areas," an officer said.
