Chandigarh, Oct 16 (IANS): Punjab Police on Saturday busted an inter-state illegal arms supply racket in Sangrur district with the arrest of two persons. Two country-made weapons and ammunition were recovered from their possession.

The arrested persons have been identified as Pawan Kumar, a resident of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, and Kulwinder Singh from Muktsar Sahib district in Punjab.

Senior Superintendent of Police Swapan Sharma told the media that following the rise in incidents of illegal weapons supply in Sangrur and its surrounding areas, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by DSP Yogesh Kumar and Inspector Deepinder Singh was formed.

After a month-long investigation, the SIT managed to bust the inter-state racket, he said, adding that this was one of many trips which Kumar made to Punjab, when he was nabbed.

Kumar had supplied several weapons in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

The SSP said that Kumar was working on the behest of Chanchal Kumar, a resident of Aligarh, who is posted at an army formation in Mau.

Apparently, Kumar was in contact with illegal arms manufacturers and he had several conduits making trips to deliver country-made weapons to anti-social elements in the state.

The SIT revealed that Madhya Pradesh has become a hub of illegal arms manufacturing. Investigation in the previous cases also pointed to Madhya Pradesh as the place of origin of country-made weapons.

Sharma said that recovery of large quantity of arms and ammunition is likely in the coming days.

In the last six months, Sangrur police have registered 17 cases under the Arms Act and recovered 32 country-made weapons.

In another operation launched by Ropar police, an inter-state gang involved in illegal arms business was busted with the arrest of five persons and recovery of five country-made pistols.

SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said that police teams had conducted a raid and nabbed five persons with arms who were engaged in illegal arms smuggling from other states.