Ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal’s Malda district, police discovered a firearm with an expired license and live ammunition in the vehicle of a former Congress MLA. Six individuals were arrested in connection with this incident. The arrested persons were presented before the Malda District Court and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
As the Assembly election schedule is set and the Model Code of Conduct is in effect, surveillance teams and checkpoint inspections have been heightened across the district. During routine checks in Old Malda, police intercepted a four-wheeler displaying a Congress party flag on Saturday morning. A 7 mm pistol, a magazine, and eight rounds of live ammunition were seized from the vehicle’s dashboard compartment around 11 a.m.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the firearm, a licensed weapon, belonged to the former Congress MLA from Manikchak constituency, Md. Mottakin Alam. However, the license had expired on September 20, 2022. Since the firearm was not registered to any of the vehicle’s occupants, six individuals were taken into custody.
The arrested individuals, residents of the Kamalabari area in English Bazar, were identified as Hanjala Sheikh, Mohammad Asif Iqbal, Mohammad Nurul, Mohammad Tasem Ali, Wasim Akhtar, and Rabiul Islam. A case has been filed under the Arms Act. District Congress leader Mantu Ghosh confirmed the recovery of the firearm from Mottakin Alam’s vehicle, stating that it was his licensed weapon.
Mottakin Alam clarified to the media that the firearm belonged to him and he usually carries it daily. Due to an oversight, he forgot to remove it from the car after returning home. Subsequently, his family members took the car out, and the police found the firearm during a checkpoint inspection. An official from Malda Police mentioned that the recovery of the firearm led to the arrest of six individuals, and an investigation is ongoing.
