West Bengal police find illegal arms factory near BD border

Police in India's West Bengal state have unearthed an illegal arms manufacturing unit in Kaliachak village, 10km from the Bangladesh border and about 4km from the home of a Burdwan blast accused who has been arrested, according to the 'Telegraph' , reports bdnews24.com.
It quoted local villagers as saying that the house where the arms were found belongs to Humayun Sheikh, a local Trinamool Congress leader in Khaschandpur village.
Police sources have confirmed that the house belonged to Humayun, whose brother Abdul Qadir has been detained. The arms used to be made in an underground room, police said.
District Trinamool chief Moazzem Hossain has denied any party leader's involvement in illegal manufacture of arms. "Police are investigating the case and would surely arrest the culprits who were running such an arms manufacturing unit. But we can say that none of our party workers or local leaders is involved in this case," Hossain said.
A police officer admitted that in the light of the Burdwan blast the force was worried after coming to know of the location of the arms unit, from where 20 pipe guns, five improvised 9mm pistols and three improvised 7mm pistols were recovered.
Khagragarh blast accused Zia-ul-Haque, a suspected Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative who allegedly played an active role in supplying "study materials" to madarsas in Burdwan was arrested at 16th Mile, which is 4km from the village.
Investigators had seized a laptop from Haque's home in Malda. The sleuths said the laptop belonged to JMB operative Rezaul Karim, a blast suspect who was arrested Saturday in Jharkhand.
Nazrul Islam, who hails from Munger in Bihar, has been arrested, and a villager whom the police have not named yet has been detained with Qadir, who is a second-year student of a Kaliachak college.
"The location has left us concerned. Now that the arms manufacturing unit has been unearthed and sealed, we are trying to find out specific information. First of all, we are trying to know for how long this unit was running in this village.
"Second, whether the arms were smuggled to other districts and across the border to Bangladesh. Finally, who else is involved in this manufacturing of illegal firearms," the officer said.
"Once we obtain these details, our officers and intelligence sources can gather more links and information."
Malda Superintendent of Police Prasun Banerjee said: "We acted on source information and raided a house in Khaschandpur village this morning. An illegal arms manufacturing unit was running in the house and we seized firearms and raw materials.
"A person who hails from Munger in Bihar has been arrested in this connection. It seems that the firearms made at the unit were smuggled outside the district. Investigations are in progress."
Nazrul, a police source said, was one of the makers of the illegal arms.
Humayun, who is a well-to-do farmer, fled the house with his parents just before the raid at 4am, the police source said.