With the shadow of Mumbai attacks still looming large, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal unearthed a big haul of arsenals in a raid at a house, one kilometer off the Calcutta’s arterial VIP road at 8.30PM on 25th Jan’09. According to Deputy Inspector General CID S.N.Gupta, more than 7000 rounds of ammunitions, 15 improvised pistols and revolvers were found so far.
The ammunitions and weapons were found stashed in the lockers of an unused office in the ground floor of an old three-storied building in the Baguiati area near Dum Dum Airport off VIP road where there has been a construction boom in recent years. As per CID sources two men were detained from the house.
This house raid was conducted on the basis of information provided by six arms dealers who were picked up in a pre-dawn sweep on the same day from a government guesthouse in Maldah Town of North Bengal where the six suspected arms dealers assembled. One of them Ashok Mandal, originally a resident of Baguiati took the five others there to settle a deal with a new client.
As per CID version Ashok Mandal was also arrested in 2003 for allegedly supplying arms to criminals but jumped bail on that occasion. An officer of CID is said to have disclosed that Ashok confirmed that he sold arms and ammunitions to Maoist fighting the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement in connivance with opposition political parties, particularly Trinomool Congress.
Meanwhile an enquiry has also been ordered to find out why the Maldah Block Development Officer Norbu Shering Lepcha allowed the six persons not known to him to stay at the government guesthouse.