Police in Murshidabad arrested two persons with a cache of illegal firearms in two separate operations within 24 hours, sparking serious law enforcement concerns in a district hit by riots last month.

The first arrest took place around 9am on Tuesday when a joint team of Behrampore police station and the State Special Operations Group (SOG), acting on a tip-off, intercepted a motorcycle near Naodapara rail gate.

The rider, Hablu Sheikh, 42, a resident of Ramrampur village under Farakka police station limits, was found transporting a cache of weapons hidden inside the motorbike’s toolbox.

Upon inspection, the police recovered seven semi-automatic pistols of 7.65mm calibre, 13 magazines and 10 rounds of ammunition. The motorbike used in the operation was seized. Hablu was produced before the Behrampore chief judicial magistrate’s court, where the police secured a 10-day remand for further investigation.

Preliminary findings suggest Hablu, from Bihar's Munger, was en route to Jalangi, a border region near Bangladesh, where the pistols were to be sold at high prices.

According to police sources, each pistol fetches between ₹35,000 to ₹40,000 in the illegal cross-border arms trade.

Hours later, a second operation was conducted by Bharatpur police, based on intelligence inputs. Around 10.30pm on Tuesday night, officers raided the residence of Kalam Sheikh, 50, in Shanua village.

There, they uncovered an illegal arms-making setup and seized two country-made revolvers, two bullets and a collection of tools used for manufacturing firearms.

Kalam was arrested and presented before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Kandi on Wednesday morning. The police also sought a 10-day remand to interrogate him regarding the illegal factory.

Speaking on the twin operations, additional superintendent of police (headquarters), Murshidabad, Majid Iqbal Khan stated: “Acting on specific intelligence, the SOG and Behrampore police successfully apprehended Hablu Sheikh and seized a significant number of weapons. In a separate operation, Bharatpur police busted a country-made arms unit in Shanua village and arrested Kalam Sheikh. Both have been sent to court and police custody has been sought.”

According to police records, Murshidabad district has seen a worrying surge in arms trafficking this year.

Over the past four and a half months alone, law enforcers recovered nearly 50 illegal firearms and more than 200 rounds of ammunition. In all, 40 cases have been registered. Forty-nine accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody so far, police sources claimed.