The recovery includes one .22 bore rifle and its 945 bullets, one double-barrelled gun and a cartridge for it, and one shutter gun, said a Rab news release yesterday.

Tipped off that a gang had been trading arms from west Kuthipara under the Sadar area in Pabna since November 14, a Rab member posed as a buyer and contacted a gang member Mostafa Kamal.

The Rab release said following Mostafa's lead, the Rab member on November 16 went to an open space near the house of a person [name not mentioned], where he made a deal to purchase arms from Hamidur Rahman Biswas alias Litu Biswas, 35.

Sources confirmed that the house belongs to Shimul Biswas, and Litu is his stepbrother.

Litu then brought the firearms and a round of cartridge for the double-barrelled gun, said the release.

As the Rab man was examining the arms, a Rab-12 team surrounded the area. Litu, sensing the Rab presence, tried to open fire from the rifle but later made an attempt to flee the area.

The Rab men then arrested Litu from a nearby pond and following his lead recovered 945 bullets and the shutter gun from a bush, some 100 yards from the open space.

Rab, however, in the case filed with the local police stated late Azizul Islam Biswas as the father of Litu.

Sources in Pabna confirmed that Shimul Biswas's father is popularly known as Hakim Biswas, but his official name is Azizul Islam.