Police have seized 42 country firearms and made 15 arrests till now. (Representational Image)

In a three-month-long operation, which also involved policemen posing as criminals to buy weapons, the Pimpri Chinchwad police have unearthed a major racket of firearm smuggling from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra. Police have seized 42 country firearms and made 15 arrests till now.

The police probe began with an offence registered in March in Pimpri Chinchwad, in which six countrymade firearms and 15 live rounds of cartridges were seized. A police team started digging deep into various clues that subsequently emerged and zeroed in on a group of arms dealers operating from Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudheer Hiremath at Pimpri Chinchwad said, “Over the last three months, multiple suspects were identified as being part of the smuggling racket and arrested. In one of the high-risk operations, a team posed as criminals interested in purchase of arms to reach the kingpins in Dhar district. The extensive probe has revealed that people who were part of the smuggling racket used to bring weapons and ammunition on a regular basis from Madhya Pradesh for sale in various places in Maharashtra, including Pune.”

Police have till now confirmed the smuggling and sale of as many as 75 firearms in Maharashtra as part of the racket, of which 42 have been seized by the investigating teams. Till now 15 persons, including some history sheeters who were part of the racket, have been arrested including one of the kingpins, Manisingh Gurumukhsingh Bhatiya from Singhana in Dhar district.

The outcome of the operation, which is still underway, was made public by the police Thursday.