Kolkata: A 38-year-old woman was arrested and CID found her handbag packed with pistols, ammunition and cash in Ashoknagar on Sunday, exposing what investigators suspect could be an interstate arms trafficking network.“Dressed in a salwar-kameez with her head covered by a scarf, the woman appeared to be just another middle-class commuter. But appearances proved deceptive,” a CID official said.According to police sources, she had boarded a vehicle carrying a bag full of firearms and ammunition. “The CID intercepted the vehicle and conducted a search, during which, the firearms and ammunition were recovered. A train ticket to Jamalpur in Bihar was also recovered from her,” an officer said.According to cops, the accused had previously been booked in a case at Duttapukur Police Station and had been arrested earlier.Sources said, acting on a tip-off, a joint team of CID and Ashoknagar Police intercepted a van on the Naihati-Ashoknagar Road near 8 Number More on Sunday morning. “As the woman stepped out of the vehicle, officers detained her and searched her bag. What they discovered left even seasoned investigators stunned. The accused, identified as Puja Biswas from Habra Municipality, was found carrying six firearms — four 7 mm pistols and two 9 mm pistols — along with 12 magazines, around 200 rounds of live ammunition, Rs 12,000 in cash, and two mobile phones,” an officer said. Cops’ suspicion about the accused being part of an interstate arms smuggling racket has deepened after recovering the train ticket to Bihar. The CID is now probing a possible connection with the Munger district of Bihar, a region long associated with the illegal arms trade.According to CID sources, the investigation will focus on identifying the intended recipients of the weapons, tracing the buyers, and uncovering others involved in the alleged trafficking network. “The woman will be interrogated to establish the source of the firearms and the route through which they were being transported”, a CID official said.
