Police bust interstate arms racket

Acting on information about illegal firearms being trafficked into the city, Pune City Police have busted a major interstate arms manufacturing and trafficking racket operating in Umarti village in Legha district of Madhya Pradesh.

- Ankit Shukla & Agencies

The raid was conducted in the early hours of Saturday in a joint operation led by the DCP Zone 4 team and the Crime Branch. Police detained 36 suspects and recovered 21 illegal firearms along with a substantial quantity of ammunition. Officials said the racket was being operated from a village in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district.

Police launched the crackdown in Umarti, located about 500km from Pune, after several pistols were seized in the city over the last three weeks and supply links were found in Madhya Pradesh. During the joint operation carried out with the MP police, 50 furnaces used for illegal weapons manufacturing were destroyed.