Arms smuggling from Nagaland to Bihar: NIA searches premises of accused

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has carried out searches at the house of an accused in a 2024 arms smuggling case in Bihar, and recovered several weapons along with other incriminating materials, officials said on Thursday.

The searches were conducted on Wednesday in the case related to smuggling of illegal arms and ammunition from Nagaland for circulation across different parts of Bihar, they said.

The seizure from the house of Sandeep Kumar Sinha alias Chhotu Lala in Vaishali district of Bihar included one 9 mm pistol, 18 live cartridges of 9 mm, two pistol magazines, one double-barrel 12-bore gun, 35 live cartridges of 12-bore ammunition and Rs 4.21 lakh in cash, a statement issued by the NIA said.

Sandeep is a close associate of arrested prime accused Vikash Kumar and an active member of the arms trafficking network involved in the case.

The case was originally registered by the Bihar police following the recovery of an AK-47 rifle and live ammunition.

During investigation, four accused identified as Vikash Kumar, Satyam Kumar, Devmani Rai alias Anish and Md Ahmad Ansari were arrested and chargesheeted, the NIA said.

Recently, another accused, Manjoor Khan, was also arrested and is currently lodged in Beur Jail in Patna, it added.

The probe in the case was taken over by the NIA in August last year.