Chinese guns are arming gangsters

They are more sophisticated than the local pipe guns.

KOLKATA: After consumer goods, cheap Chinese small arms like pistols and revolvers smuggled across the Bangladesh border have begun to find many takers among gangsters.

So much so that the West Bengal police believe that these Chinese small arms smuggled into the state through the Bangladesh border at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district have replaced the traditional home made single or two-shooter pistols or 'pipe guns' that were the favourite of local gangsters.

The Chinese small arms are a shade expensive but far more sophisticated.

According to officials in state police, while a local-made two-shooter pistol  can be procured at Rs 250--350, with three bullets free with every firearm purchased, a Chinese revolver is available in a price range of Rs 750 to Rs 2,500 with six free bullets thrown in.

State police officials said that these illegal small arms enter West Bengal through the Benapole-Haridaspur border, around 15 kilometers from the Bongoan railway station. "These arms do not come in huge numbers in a single consignment. In each consignment a maximum four such smuggled arms are packed and shipped irregularly to keep the police guessing," a senior official said. From the border, the receiving agents take them to different distribution points.