Kolkata, March 4 (IANS) Police in West Bengal's Malda district have arrested three persons after recovering firearms and counterfeit currency during raids conducted ahead of the state Assembly elections, officials said on Wednesday.
Police carried out raids at two separate locations in the district and seized firearms, ammunition and fake currency notes.
According to police sources, acting on a tip-off from a confidential source, the first raid was conducted in the Chanchal police station area on Tuesday night.
A local youth identified as Abdul Barek, a resident of Khanpara in Chanchal, was arrested during the operation. Police recovered fake currency notes worth Rs 5 lakh from his possession.
During questioning, Barek allegedly told police that he had brought the fake currency from Siliguri in north Bengal to Malda for circulation, officials said.
Police are investigating the case to identify others involved in the counterfeit currency network.
In a separate operation in another area under Chanchal police station, police arrested two alleged arms dealers, identified as Golam Rabbani and Mizanur Rahman.
Both are residents of the Harishchandrapur police station area.
Police recovered four firearms and five rounds of ammunition from their possession. Preliminary investigation suggests that the weapons were brought from Bihar, officials said.
The police are seeking custody of the accused for further interrogation to ascertain the source of the weapons and possible links to a wider network.
All three accused were produced before a local court on Wednesday in connection with two separate cases, police said.
Officials said surveillance has been intensified across the state, particularly in districts bordering Bihar, Jharkhand and Bangladesh, to prevent the smuggling of illegal firearms and counterfeit currency ahead of the Assembly elections.
In the past, police have made several arrests and seizures of illegal arms and fake currency during similar operations.
--IANS
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