The law enforcers certainly deserve a round of applause for their timely interception which led to the recovery of the combat grade weapons and ammunition. Such alertness on the part of the law enforcers is needed to contain arms smuggling which can have a lot to do with subversive activities within the country. But we have to get at the bottom of the problem to solve it on a permanent basis. First, the sources of supply of the arms which have been recovered from time to time have to be unearthed. Second, the purveyors or the middlemen have to be identified. Finally, the law enforcers must try to know the ultimate destinations of the consignments. The vital information about the arms and the dealers will help us determine the exact nature and purpose of the smuggling that we have been watching for a long time.

There is hardly any way to treat any such haul as an isolated or insignificant incident, given the location and quantity of the arms and ammunition that have been recovered so far. The law enforcers are doing their job, but it is still not known how many of the arms consignments have actually slipped through the surveillance net and reached the intended destinations. The thought is extremely disturbing, particularly because militancy in some form or the other exists in different parts of our region as a whole.

Obviously, such findings also raise the question of internal security. The presence of subversive elements in the country is no secret as quite a few incidents of bomb blasts took place in recent times. So arms smuggling into the country is something that can only further aggravate the brittle law and order situation. The law enforcers have to delve deeper into the matter and break the back of the entire racket involved in illegal arms trade.