Agartala, Nov 25 (NationPress) Senior police and intelligence officials are currently interrogating three individuals accused of arms smuggling, including a supposed arms supplier from Bihar, who were apprehended by the Tripura police after the recovery of two small firearms and four magazines in Agartala, according to officials.

A police representative stated that these three accused, who are linked to inter-state arms trafficking, were presented before a local court on Tuesday, where they were ordered to undergo five days of police custody.

“Senior police and intelligence officials will persist in questioning the arrested individuals to uncover further details regarding the arms smuggling operations and their strategies,” the official remarked, adding that there are suspicions that the weapons were meant for smuggling into Bangladesh.

The Tripura Police apprehended the three suspects, including an alleged arms supplier from Bihar, while seizing two small firearms and four magazines during a routine patrol at Arundhuti Nagar on the outskirts of Agartala on Monday night.

According to West Tripura district Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak, the arrests occurred during a routine patrol by the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Arundhuti Nagar Police station near the Bandeshwar bridge area on the bypass road.

The OC observed suspicious movement by three individuals, and upon investigation, recovered the weapons alongside three mobile phones.

The detained suspects have been identified as Tinku Debbarma (35) and Sumenda Debbarma (40), both residents of Barkathal in West Tripura, along with Sibash Kumar (29), a resident of Dumeria Khurd in Bihar, who allegedly transported the firearms into the region.

The district police chief indicated that a case is being filed under the Arms Act, and preliminary investigations suggest that the confiscated weapons were brought from Bihar earlier that day.

“We can only confirm how the arms arrived here, their intended purpose, and to whom they were to be delivered after further interrogation,” Pathak stated.

Police sources also reported that the Arundhuti Nagar area, located near Agartala railway station, has seen numerous arrests of arms dealers over previous years, with a significant number of cases involving illegal firearms smuggled into the state, often utilizing train routes, particularly from Nagaland.

In a related incident on May 8, eight pistols and 16 empty magazines were retrieved from an express train at Agartala railway station. The Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF), in a collaborative operation on May 8, seized these items from the Tripura Sundari Express Train upon its arrival from Firozpur, Punjab.

“Eight pistols and 16 empty magazines were found in two unclaimed bags,” a GRP official stated, adding that there were no identifying marks or manufacturing details on the pistols and magazines. All eight pistols resembled 9mm models.