Visakhapatnam: Hardcore criminals in parts of East Godavari district are allegedly supplying fire arms to rowdy sheeters and others in the Vizag region for purveying their illegal businesses, such as ganja smuggling and circulation of fake currency. The illegal weapons, manufactured in West Bengal and Bihar, have found their way to criminal groups in East Godavari district and were subsequently surfacing in parts of Vizag.
Criminals from Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal have been involved in selling the weapons to rowdy sheeters and few other criminal gangs in Vizag and surrounding districts.
As ganja cultivation and smuggling have turned into a major source of easy money for the criminal gangs in East Godavari district, gang rivalry and threat of domination over the businesses has led to the procurement of fire arms which are then supplied to gang members, said intelligence officials.
The city police task force recently caught Gurajarapu Nalamaharaju, 45, a notorious criminal and native of Rajanagaram, East Godavari district, near the railway station in Vizag city when he was carrying fake currency of a face value of Rs 6.78 lakh and a country-made 9 mm pistol with two empty magazines, said DCP (Crimes) T. Ravi Kumar Murthy.
A senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that a few hardcore criminals from neighbouring districts were involved in the illegal business in Vizag.
The weapons are finding their way with ease into the city by the rail route and recent incidents have raised some serious questions about the use of illegal fire arms by criminals even as the police are at their wits’ end on how to tackle them.
