Dibrugarh: A couple was arrested at the Jorhat railway station after police recovered two pistols and 40 rounds of live ammunition from their baggage, busting what appears to be an inter-state arms smuggling racket operating between Nagaland and Assam.The arrested individuals have been identified as Tutun Debnath and Maya Debnath, residents of Dimapur in Nagaland. The couple was detained from the Nagaland Express at Platform No 2 around 5.45 pm on Thursday, shortly after the train pulled in at the station. They had boarded the train at Dimapur at 1.45 pm.During a thorough search of their baggage, a police team recovered two .32 calibre pistols — one of Russian make and another manufactured in Thailand — along with 40 rounds of live ammunition. The recovery of foreign-made firearms has raised serious concerns about the possible source and network behind the smuggling operation.Jorhat senior superintendent of police (SSP) Subhrajyoti Bora confirmed the arrest and shed light on the sequence of events that led to the successful operation.“We received credible intelligence about one or two firearms likely to be transported on the train. Our teams followed the lead, and the raid was executed with precision, leading to the recovery of the illegal consignment,” Bora said.The operation was carried out by a police team led by Jorhat police station OC Hrishikesh Hazarika, with assistance from Railway Police personnel.Bora added that interrogation of the couple was still underway and that they had not yet disclosed the source of the firearms or their intended destination.Police suspect that illegal arms dealers may have lured the couple into transporting the weapons by offering them a substantial sum of money, also banking on their ability to avoid police suspicion.Details regarding the couple’s occupation and livelihood are yet to be ascertained. Jorhat police have reached out to Dimapur police seeking further information and assistance to trace the origin of the weapons and identify the larger network behind the smuggling operation.
