BJP worker Rasaraj Sarkar, 40, was arrested from Rajganj, Jalpaiguri district, late on Sunday for possessing an illegal firearm and one round of ammunition.

District BJP leaders distanced themselves from the arrest and said they are gathering information about him. On Monday, he was produced at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Jalpaiguri and was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

In another incident, a team of New Jalpaiguri police station arrested four persons on Sunday night and recovered an automatic pistol and two rounds of live cartridges from them. They had assembled in the Baribhasa area located in the southern outskirts of the city and had plans to commit a crime, police sources said.

In Malda district, similar raids were carried out in different locations on Sunday night. In Chanchal, the police have arrested Tamal Das, a youth and seized a pistol and one round of cartridge from him.

Also, a team of Mothabari police station raided a local ground and arrested two miscreants. A firearm and a cartridge were found in their possession, police said.