North Dinajpur police on Sunday said they would prepare a list of industrial workshops and factories where lathe machines were used to prevent mushrooming of illegal firearms making units in the district.

Firearms had been seized from a grill factory in Malda on Friday.

“We have found that those associated in making illegal firearms are using lathe machines. The arms smugglers are contacting small workshops and factories engaged in making iron products in rural areas of the district as they use lathe machines for various purposes. That is why our officers have been asked to prepare a list of all such industrial workshops and factories where lathe machines are used,” said Arnab Ghosh, district police chief.

The owners of such workshops where lathe machines are used, would also be alerted, said an official of the intelligence wing. “They will have to inform the police in case any such proposal is offered to them. It has also been found that workers trained in making such arms are being hired from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand. In case any workshop or factory engages a worker from these states, they will have to share all relevant data about that worker with us.”

On Friday, the police could seize as many as 24 improvised firearms and 200-odd semi-finished firearms, with a number of machineries and materials. Two persons, both from Bihar, were also arrested for making illegal firearms.