In a significant operation targeting the illegal arms trade, a joint team of the Bihar Police and the Special Task Force (STF) apprehended five members of an interstate smuggling syndicate. The raid was carried out in the Laheri police station area of Nalanda district, leading to the seizure of a substantial cache of weapons and ammunition.
Key Accused Wanted by NIA Apprehended
Officials disclosed on Thursday that one of the arrested individuals is a key accused wanted in a case currently under investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The police have identified the five arrested suspects. Parvez Alam, a resident of Gauragarh Mohalla in Bihar Sharif, is the individual sought by the NIA.
The other accused include Saurabh Kumar Jha, who was living as a tenant in Sohan Kuan under Laheri police station and is originally from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. Additionally, three brothers from Azad Nagar in Jamshedpur – Jiyar Jai, Mohammad Mehboob (alias Tinku), and Zahid Hussain – were also taken into custody during the operation.
Intelligence-Led Raid Nets Weapons and Cash
According to Laheri Station House Officer (SHO) Ranjit Kumar Rajak, the successful raid was executed based on specific intelligence inputs. "Saurabh and Parvez reportedly summoned the three Jharkhand-based brothers to Sohan Kuan for an arms deal on Wednesday," Rajak stated.
The operation was set in motion after Saurabh Kumar Jha was previously arrested from Patna's SK Puri area. During his interrogation, he divulged critical information about the planned illegal transaction. As the deal was underway, the combined police and STF team moved in and captured all the suspects in Nalanda.
The raid resulted in the recovery of a large quantity of illegal arms and related items, including:
- 153 rounds of 7.62 mm AK-47 ammunition
- Five country-made pistols
- Eleven magazines
- Nine mobile phones
- Rs 24,000 in cash
- One SUV believed to be used for transporting the weapons
Gang's Cross-Border Network and Criminal History
Police sources indicated that the gang was actively involved in smuggling weapons across the Bihar-Jharkhand border. The arrest of Parvez Alam sheds light on the entrenched nature of such networks; he has a long criminal history, including an arrest in 2013 when he was caught with 600 cartridges.
The authorities have registered First Information Reports (FIRs) against all five accused. They are now conducting thorough interrogations to unravel connections to other gang members and trace the broader supply chain of the illegal arms network. Investigators believe this breakthrough could provide vital leads to disrupt larger interstate arms smuggling operations.
