Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorist squad busts illegal arms unit in Pratapgarh, six arrested

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested six persons for running an illegal arms manufacturing unit in Pratapgarh.
The accused persons were identified as Shayal Alam aka Chhotu, Mohammed Sarfaraz Alam and Mohammed Azad (all from Munger in Bihar), Tirupati Nath Verma aka Guddu Gandhi of Gorakhpur, Swaline Ansari aka Bablu and Akhlin Ansari, both from Pratapgarh.
IG, ATS, GK Goswamy said they were tipped off about a gang involved in manufacturing and sale of illegal weapons.
“A team worked on the information and found that the gang used to hire gunsmiths from Munger (Bihar) to manufacture weapons in the factory. The gang used to sell weapons in various parts of the state,” he said.
“After completing ground work, an ATS team, along with Pratapgarh police, conducted a raid in Asrahi village under Lalganj police station area and nabbed the accused,” the IG said.
“The team recovered 300 cartridges (each of .32 bore), two pistols (.32 bore), two countrymade pistols,17 semi-finished pistols, a huge quantity of semi-finished countrymade pistols, lathe machines, furnaces and other equipment,” the IG added.
He said the ATS would produce them before the court and seek their police custody.
“The accused will be quizzed about the places where they used to supply weapons and cartridges, and their associates in Pratapgarh and in other parts of the state. The criminals belonging to Munger in Bihar worked as gunsmiths while the other three looked after the supply of guns and cartridges,” the IG said.