Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Sep 7: Tripura Police and Assam Rifles in a joint operation arrested two suspected arms dealers after they allegedly arrived in Agartala from Bihar, officials said on Monday.
The arrests were made on Sunday night in the Shalbagan area along the Agartala-Khowai road. Police were conducting vehicle checks when they received information from Assam Rifles that two men were allegedly moving on foot from Domdomia towards Agartala carrying illegal arms and ammunition.
A joint ambush was subsequently laid in the area, following which the suspects were intercepted and detained.
A search led to the recovery of two pistols, three magazines, eight rounds of 7.65 mm ammunition and two mobile phones, officials said.
The accused were identified as Suraj Kumar, 29, from Lakhisarai district, and Srikant Kumar, 36, from Vaishali district in Bihar. They allegedly failed to produce valid licences or other documents authorising possession of the weapons and ammunition.
The recovered items were seized at the spot in the presence of an Executive Magistrate and independent witnesses, with proper seizure memos prepared, the official said.
Tripura has witnessed several arrests of suspected arms dealers, many of them from Bihar, in recent years. Police have alleged that illegal firearms are often smuggled into the northeastern state through train routes.
In an earlier joint operation, Tripura Police and the Railway Protection Force arrested two suspected arms and drug peddlers after they arrived at Agartala railway station by an express train. A loaded pistol and around 100 bottles of banned cough syrup were recovered from two youths from Bihar.
In November last year, Tripura Police arrested three people, including an alleged arms supplier from Bihar, after recovering two country-made firearms and four magazines during a patrol in Agartala.
On May 8 last year, the Government Railway Police and RPF recovered eight pistols and 16 empty magazines from the Tripura Sundari Express after it arrived at Agartala from Firozpur in Punjab.
Tripura shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh and is surrounded by the neighbouring country on three sides. The state's location makes it vulnerable to cross-border smuggling of drugs, arms and other contraband, as well as illegal movement across the international border. Most stretches of the frontier have been fenced to curb such activities.