Four with pistol held from hotel in Triplicane

Gopinath (25), Kumar (52), Murugan (52) and Prakash (32) were caught at a private hotel on Tuesday night on Wallajah Road, when they had met to exchange a pistol for money. 

Apart from the pistol, seven 9 mm bullets and three magazines were also seized from them. Of the four, Kumar of RV Nagar in Annanagar is said to be the broker, while the others had come to purchase the pistol. 

While Gopinath is from Vyasarpadi, Kumar and Prakash are from Madhurandhagam. They have been involved in the business for a while and supplied pistols to dacoits, police sources said. The group was taken to Triplicane police station for interrogation.

On a tip-off, a special team led by Aslam, DSP (Organised Crime Intelligence Unit), and inspector Senthilkumar, reached the hotel in plain clothes. After the preliminary inquiry, police could establish that all four were middlemen in the illicit arms trade. 

Officers said that two more people - Deepan, a lawyer, and Arjun - are the masterminds behind the trade and a manhunt has been launched for the duo. Deepan is said to be the arms dealer, who gets pistols and other weapons from the north. Since the arrested men allegedly refused to cooperate during investigation, police have taken out details of call records from their mobile phones to find out from whom they were sourcing the arms. 

Sources said there are no criminal records against those arrested on Tuesday.  This is the second series of arrest of persons in possession of arms within a month after a history-sheeter, Vignesh, was held by Mylapore police for threatening a hawker with pistol for money. Police said that the two incidents are not linked in anyway.