2 brothers held with arms after firing incident

Patna: Police recovered a large cache of illegal arms and ammunition from two brothers in Jalalpur village under Kewra outpost in Patna district on Saturday morning, following reports of an exchange of fire between two groups over a land dispute.City SP (east) Parichay Kumar said after receiving information about the firing incident, the in-charge of Kewra OP immediately rushed to the spot and sought reinforcement from Pipra police station.“During an intensive search of the area, police took Aniket Kumar and Nitish Kumar, sons of one Kaleshwar Prasad Singh, into custody. From their possession, authorities seized 341 rounds of 7.65 mm live bullets, one country-made rifle, one weapon resembling a country-made carbine, one pistol, three magazines, two walkie-talkies, four pistol covers, and five empty bullet boxes believed to have earlier contained around 200 rounds,” the SP said.He said the recovery was made during a combing operation launched to prevent any further violence following the reported exchange of fire between rival groups.When questioned about the recovered arms and ammunition, the accused failed to give a satisfactory explanation. They claimed the bullets had been procured from Nagaland but were evasive about whether the consignment was meant for sale or for their own use.

“The accused claimed that the empty bullet boxes were leftovers from celebratory firing carried out over the past few years,” Kumar said.He added that a case had been registered against the two at Kewra OP under the relevant sections of law. “The investigation is underway to trace the source of the ammunition, identify the supply chain, and ascertain the actual purpose behind possessing such a large quantity of arms and bullets,” the SP said.