Three persons, including one from Bihar, were arrested with a cache of arms and ammunition at Manikchak here on Sunday night.

Police sources said five 7mm pistols and 90 rounds of live bullets of different variations had been seized from the trio who were held in a joint raid of the special task force of the state police and Manikchak police.

“The trio were intercepted as they crossed the Ganga and landed at Shankartola Ghat in Manikchak. They were frisked and the firearms and ammunition were recovered from them,” said Sanjib Biswas, the inspectorincharge of Manikchak police station.

The arrested youths — Sayed Sultan Ahmed, from Katihar in Bihar, Sonachand Chowdhury and Jhaksu Chowdhury, both residents of Bilaimari in Malda — were produced at a court on Monday.

During the past few weeks, the police have recovered a number of firearms and ammunition. With the elections ahead, the police in Malda have tightened checking at the interstate borders of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Couple of weeks back, two persons were arrested by Harischandrapur police with similar arms and ammunition.

“The two local arrested youths admitted that they had brought the firearms from Bihar. It suggests that a racket has been active to bring illegal arms and ammunition from Bihar especially before the polls,” said a senior police officer.Also, on January 26, the STF and the police seized a number of finished and semifinished seven mm pistols.

“Prohibitory orders would be enforced along the interstate borders right after the election schedule is announced,” the official added.

The seizures have also prompted political parties to react.

While BJP district president Gobinda Mandal has claimed that police and STF suddenly became active as the election commission had taken stricter stance, Trinamul district spokesperson Sumala Agarwala said that the recoveries proved the alertness of state police and STF.