West Bengal Police recover arms and ammunition from ECL quarters

The West Bengal Police Special Task Force (STF) recovered a significant cache of weapons and ammunition during night-long raids in the Andal area of West Burdwan district. The operation, which took place near the industrial township of Durgapur, targeted abandoned quarters belonging to Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited.

Authorities seized 15 firearms and 56 rounds of live cartridges. The search was conducted with the assistance of two arrested coal smugglers, Shamsher Hossain and Khairul, who were previously apprehended in Jharkhand. The discovery has led investigators to probe whether the duo's criminal activities extended from illegal coal smuggling into illegal arms trafficking.

Coal smuggling has been a long-standing issue in West Bengal and Jharkhand, drawing investigations from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).