The special operations group of Baruipur police district and Basanti police jointly busted an illegal arms factory in Basanti of South 24-Parganas district during a raid on Friday night that continued till the early hours of Saturday.

The police said improvised arms were being manufactured inside a temporary structure where zari labourers, mostly women, work.

Two persons were arrested and at least seven long-range firearms were recovered apart from a huge cache of raw materials and unfinished weapons.

Police sent a mole disguised as an arms supplier pretending to strike an arms deal, which eventually led to a raid at the house of Motaleb Purakait, a zari worker in Ramchandrakhali-Kolahazra village, which is how the undercover arms factory was busted.

Motaleb allegedly is a Trinamul supporter and close aide of aa prominent faction of the ruling party in the area.

Despite the seizure of arms, the incident has come as an embarrassment to the police administration ahead of the panchayat elections, as Trinamul MLA Shyamal Mondal had alleged that criminals had been stockpiling arms for some time in the area.

"Some criminals were arrested today (Saturday).... But more should be arrested soon," the Trinamul MLA said.

Motaleb apart, one of his close associates, Joynal Mollah, was also arrested.

Prime accused Motaleb had earlier been arrested in 2019 for his alleged involvement in running an arms factory.

Speaking at a media conference on Saturday morning, Pushpa, the superintendent of police, Baruipur police district, said: "We came to know about illegal arms deals in Ramchandrakhali area. We arrested a suspected person, who was earlier nabbed for his alleged involvement in the arms selling network. We got a tip-off that persons involved in manufacturing arms who were also arrested earlier have begun fresh dealings. Accordingly, we conducted a raid at the place and traced out the factory."

She further claimed that a racket is involved in the entire arms manufacture and deals. "We will find out why they were manufacturing arms and for whom. We will interrogate the nabbed duo to find out the details of their plan and conspiracy...," the SP said further.

Local BJP leader Bikash Sardar alleged that goons close to various factions of Trinamul were amassing arms for use during panchayat polls. "These goons are unleashing panic in Basanti, giving the area a bad name.... They should be nabbed without political bias," he said.