Tip-off leads CBI to huge arms cache in Sandeshkhali

3 foreign-made revolvers, 1 Indian revolver, 1 Colt police revolver, 1 foreign-made pistol, 120 nine mm bullets and hundred and twenty 45 calibre cartridges, fifty 380 cartridges were among the items found

CBI raided two houses in Sandeshkhali on a tip off on Friday and found a large cache of firearms, mostly foreign made. The searches which were conducted after the premises were cordonned off and aided by sniffer dogs, NSG as well as robots, were related to the the attacks on the Enforcement Directorate officials.

According to a statement it subsequently issued, “Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recovered large number of arms and ammunitions including foreign made Pistol & Revolvers, during searches conducted at two premises in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) in a case a related to violence against Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials.”

“During searches, .03 foreign-made revolvers, 01 Indian revolver, 01 Colt official Police Revolver, 01 foreign made pistol, 01 country-made pistol, 09 mm bullets- 120 nos, 45 calibre cartridges – 50 nos, 9 mm calibre cartridges-120 nos, 380 cartridges -50 nos, 32 cartridges- 08 nos were recovered."

CBI sources say the owner of the house has been identified as Abu Taleb Mollah, who is said to be related to Shajahan Sheikh who is in custody now. The CBI sources said it was not clear what such a large number of firearms, ammunition along with explosives had been meant for.

Many ‘incriminating documents' related to Sheikh Shahjahan have also been seized. Some country-made bombs have also been recovered which are being handled and disposed of by the teams from NSG. A robot was seen carrying a bag out of one of the houses and NSG officials were seen trying to deal with the bombs.