Dramatic arms seizures, only the tip of the iceberg?
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

PANAJI, JAN 16: The Goa police have busted an arms racket and arrested over 22 persons and seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from them, including 45 pistols, worth over Rs 45 lakh. Police claimed to have stumbled upon the racket after the arrest of some persons, involved in an extortion case.

According to Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIGP), Karnal Singh, the drive against the culprits was currently in progress. The role of some inter-state gangs in the case was also being probed, he said adding the cooperation of various other Government agencies was being sought to fully expose the arms racket.

Police seized a sizeable cache of weapons and ammunition during their raid on a workshop at Dramapur in south Goa which was being used for the manufacture, modification and assembly of small arms. Police seized eight rifles, adequate rifle spares, a German-make 9-mm pistol, hunting knives and a huge quantity of ammunition from this place which belongs to one Anthony Rodrigues.

Following Rodrigues' statement to the police, police teams unearthed some more caches of arms from different parts of the state. Disclosing that he had been running the workshop since 1974, Rodrigues named the Chari brothers as his associates whose premises were raided recently at Colvale and Calangute in North Goa.

Giving details about the case, he said, ``Goa has started emerging as a `transit-point' in the illegal arms trade.'' He informed that the smuggled arms were being used by local criminals mainly for extortion purposes and settlement of petty disputes.

The police began anti-arms smuggling operations after the arrest of Joeboy alias Joe Lopes, earlier this month, after a case of extortion and threat to kill was registered against him. ``More arrests and arms seizures are expected in the near future,'' IGP Singh said. The police are also planning to send teams to Mumbai and Bangalore to arrest some persons, whose names were disclosed by the arrested criminals.

However, reliable sources said the arms racket had flourished for all these years under the direct patronage of both politicians and the police.

Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.