In a major breakthrough against illegal arms manufacturing, an illegal firearms factory operating in Bokaro, Jharkhand, was busted in the early hours of Thursday during a joint operation by the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police and the Jharkhand Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) along with local police.

The raid was conducted at around 3 am on the factory which was being run under the guise of a warehouse in Bokaro. During the raid, two people were arrested red-handed while manufacturing firearms inside the factory.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Keshav Kumar, a 35-year-old resident of Khagaria district in Bihar, and Praven Kumar, aged 53, from Munger district, also in Bihar.

Both were taken into custody and are being interrogated to trace the wider network involved in the manufacturing and distribution of illegal weapons.

Intelligence for the operation was developed by STF, Kolkata Police, marking the 18th successful inter-state raid carried out by the unit in the past three years.