COIMBATORE: Three persons including a Bihar native were arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths for smuggling a country-made pistol from Bihar to be sold in Coimbatore.

The accused, M Manikanda Prabhu (32), an IT professional, and his friend Hari Shri (23), both from Coimbatore and Kundhan Rai (22), a cook from Patna in Bihar were arrested and a pistol with six live rounds was seized from them.

Sources said the trio had consumed liquor in a Tasmac shop when Kundhan Rai informed two others that pistols are easily available in his home state and could be bought for Rs 1 lakh.

A cop, who was in civil dress there, had overheard their conversation, and approached Manikanda Prabhu, by pretending to be in desperate need of an illegal pistol and also made a lucrative cash offer.

Unaware of the trap, Manikanda Prabhu sent his two friends by train to Bihar to buy a pistol. They bought the gun for Rs 80,000 from an illegal arms seller and handed it over to Manikanda Prabhu, who in turn gave it to the cop.

The ATS sleuths arrested the trio and booked them under 25(1) (a) of the Arms Act. Besides the pistol with six live rounds, the police also seized three mobile phones and a two-wheeler from the trio. Further inquiries are on.