Ahead of the assembly election in the state, massive drives are being carried out in most of the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh Police have seized multiple illegal arms in Azamgarh, Ballia, and Jaunpur district by unearthing manufacturing units and arresting arms smugglers.
Ahead of the assembly election in the state, massive drives are being carried out in most of the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The police source revealed an illegal arms factory was discovered in the forest on the banks of the Hathiya river in Azamgarh, under the limits of the Sidhari police circle.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) Azamgarh, Anurag Arya, explained the incident. He said they were tipped off the arms unit while conducting a drive check near the Hydel colony. Following the tip, police conducted a raid on the banks of the Hathiya river. He said, Jai Prakash Singh and Rajesh Ram, two illegal arms manufacturers, were apprehended.
The police recovered 12 country-made revolvers, partially manufactured revolvers, seven live cartridges, furnish, blower, tools for arms manufacturing, parts, and many other parts from the factory.
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During the interrogation, the duo admitted they were manufacturing the firearms for upcoming Assembly polls in the state and revealed they chose the river bank as it is isolated. They further told the names of the people who obtained illegal weapons from them, following which the police have intensified efforts to arrest them.
Arya added both the accused had a lengthy criminal record. Meantime, in the Ballia district, a joint team of ATS Varanasi field unit and Dubahar police station arrested five arms smugglers, along with five country-made pistols, ten magazines, and an SUV.
The SP of Ballia, Raj Karan Nayyar, the ATS, and the Dubahar police, cordoned off Janeshwar Mishra bridge and blocked an SUV after receiving a tip about the movement of arms smugglers in the Bihar bordering area.
Nayyar said, while checking the SUV, police discovered five pistols and ten magazines. The five arrested accused are Anshu Kumar, Deepak Tiwari, Abhishek Kumar Rai, Amit Singh, and Yogesh Rai. The accused are suspected of carrying illegal arms from Bihar to supply them in Uttar Pradesh.
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In Jaunpur, the Sikrara police arrested Ram Surat in the Ram Sahai Patti village and other four arms dealers from the Tahirpur site, named Ashutosh Harijan, Abhishek Singh, Shiraj Singh, and Ravi Gautam, while they were negotiating an arms deal.
A factory-made pistol, four country-made revolvers, and several live cartridges were recovered from their possession, according to Jaunpur Superintendent of Police Ajay Sahani.