Three smugglers along with a foreign made pistol, two magazines and six rounds of bullet were held after searching a government vehicle in Lauzani rail crossing area of Jhikargacha upazila in Jashore district on Friday night.
The arrested are Rajib Sheikh, 26, of Narkhali village in Pirojpur district headquarters, Jeelan Sheikh, 55, of Sairabad village under Rampal Police Station in Bagerhat, and Mehedi Hasan, 30, of Jagipur village of Khanjahan Ali police station in Khulna district. Among the arrested, Mehedi Hasan is the driver of Khulna Agrani Bank's Manager Maidul Islam, police said.
A team of Detective Branch (DB) police searched a Pajero of the bank manager, Maidul, around 11:30pm and arrested the three arms smugglers along with the pistol, magazines and ammunition.
Rupan Kumar Sarkar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Jashore District DB Police, in a press release said acting on a tip-off, a team of DB police took position in Luzani rail crossing area on Benapole-Jashore Highway.
When a Khulna-bound Pajero from Benapole reached the area, DB police stopped the vehicle and arrested them, the OC said.
Despite being a government vehicle, it was being used for illegal arms trading, police said.
According to Jashore DB Police, Rajib was accused in three drug cases and one arms-related case and three theft cases and one case under arms act was filed against Mehdi, the OC said.
A case was filed with Jashore Kowali Police Station over the incident and legal action were being taken in this regard, added the OC.