In the first raid on a tin-roofed house behind the forest department headquarters early yesterday, Gulshan police first seized the double-barrel gun, 25 bullets of.32 bore pistol, seven of.303 rifle, 11 of Chinese rifle, three of 9mm pistol and 15 other bullets.

They arrested Abul Kashem, a tenant of the house, and picked up his brother and another unknown man for questioning.

On the basis of information given by Kashem, police also seized a velvet bag filled with 14 cartons of.22 bore rifle bullets, a pistol cover, a toy pistol, a machete, four knives and a hammer.

In the second raid near the health directorate, a joint team of Gulshan police and of a Rapid Action team busted a 9mm pistol with four shots, 150 bullets of.22 bore rifle and a shotgun round.

The arms and ammunition seized in the first sweep belonged to 'Galkata' Babul, allegedly a top operative of the infamous Banga Babu gang, Kashem told police.

"The types of ammunition suggest the Mohakhali gunrunners are not similar to those who are linked to the huge weapons cache in Kuril Badda," said Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ashraful Huda.

"The.22 bore bullets can be used to kill a target three kilometres away. I think they were brought in for use inside the country," said Golam Rasul, deputy commissioner of the DMP.

Kashem told police that Babul gave him the gun and bullets recently, but claimed ignorance about the velvet bag contents.

Babu, arrested during Operation Clean Heart last year, told his interrogators that Babul emerged as the boss of his gang after his arrest.

Sources said police arrested Babul before Ramadan and he was released on bail.

A case under the Arms Act was filed against Kashem.

In the second raid on the house of Rubel at 8:00pm, police arrested him with the pistol loaded with four shots and found the.22 bore rifle bullets basing on his confession.

The team was raiding some areas in the neighbourhood taking Rubel with them until filing of this report at 12:30am today.

Sutrapur police also seized a 9mm pistol with a bullet and a local gun (LG) loaded with a rifle bullet from a gang of three youths from Rajani Chowdhury Lane at 9:45 last night.

A patrol team of Sutrapur police challenged the youths -- Solim, 30, Firoj, 20, and Khokon, 21, -- on suspicion and found the arms.

Police said a robbery in the neibourhood by the gang was in the works.

The arms seizures came in the wake of Sunday's haul that included four AK-47 assault rifles, 20 hand grenades, four time bombs, a large number of AK-47 bullets, explosives and other operational necessaries.