Bareilly (UP), Apr 10 (PTI) Acting on a tip-off from the Military Intelligence (MI), Bareilly unit, a joint team of police, the STF-SOG and surveillance units have raided an illegal arms manufacturing unit in a forested area in Bareilly’s Nawabganj region and arrested a man with a cache of country-made weapons and tools used in their fabrication, officials said on Thursday.

Nawabganj Circle Officer Harsh Modi said the raid was the result of a well-coordinated operation based on a confidential alert provided by the MI unit.

“On April 9, the Military Intelligence informed the local police about the presence of an illegal arms-manufacturing set up operating from a forest area near Balpur village. Based on this, a detailed strategy was chalked out,” Modi told PTI.

Around 9:10 pm, the police team moved towards the location and apprehended a man red-handed while he was fabricating a firearm. The arrested man has been identified as Bhimsen alias Bablu (45), a resident of Balpur under the Nawabganj police station, he said.

Police seized a large cache of arms and tools from his possession.

“We seized three country-made pistols (.315-bore, one with a live cartridge), two pistols (.32-bore, with two spent shells) and several other components and equipment used in arms manufacturing,” Modi confirmed.

During interrogation, Bhimsen admitted that he got into arms-making to supplement his income from farming. He learned the craft from a man named Pappu, who has since passed away.

“He revealed that he used steering rods and parts from old engine oil pumps to make the barrels, while iron sheets were used for the body and scrap springs for internal mechanisms. Each firearm was sold for Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000,” Modi said.

The operation further validated the MI’s intelligence, which accurately pin-pointed the location and nature of the illicit activity. A wide array of tools was also seized, including five barrels (.315-bore), a hacksaw, 21 blades, a metal file, an electric fan, three springs, 10 large iron plates, hammers, pliers, screws, nails, two drilling machines and two sumbas (a device used for shaping barrels).

The police team involved in the operation included Sub-Inspectors Rajkumar Gautam and Yogesh Kumar, Head Constable Chetan Singh and Constable Deepak Yadav.

The accused has been taken into custody and further legal action is underway, police said. PTI COR KIS RC