Suspected woman arms smuggler arrested in Bengal

Kolkata, Nov 2 (IANS) A suspected woman arms smuggler has been arrested and a consignment of firearms, cartridges and magazines was seized from her possession in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Saturday.

The woman was arrested while she was traveling in a bus destined to Kolkata.

The bus was stopped midway at Duttapukur in North 24 Parganas district and she was caught red-handed with 12 firearms and 24 magazines all loaded with cartridges.

The arrested woman has been identified as Puja Biswas, a resident of Habra.

She was presented before a district court at Barasat in North 25 Parganas district later in the day and the court remanded her to 10 days police custody.

Confirming the development, Additional Police Superintendent, Barasat district, B Thakur said that the woman was arrested with the arms consignment from a long-distance bus coming from Malda.

"We are interrogating her to get information about her other associates in the racket," he added.

Meanwhile, district police sources said that the policemen of Duttapukur police station had got an input that some arms and ammunition were being smuggled though that bus. Accordingly, the policemen stopped the bus on the National Highway near Duttapukur.

"As we were conducting a search operation, one of our men noticed suspicious and uneasy body language of the woman concerned. She was carrying a bag and from an inside chamber of the bag, the firearms and loaded magazines were recovered. We suspect that she is a part of a major arms smuggling racket,” said a district police official.