To the onlookers on the busy Naihati–Ashoknagar Road on Sunday morning, she looked like just any ordinary commuter going about her day. Dressed in a simple cotton salwar suit, a scarf on her head, a jute bag in one hand and another slung over her shoulder, Puja Biswas blended seamlessly into the crowd.
There seemed no reason to suspect her. Yet, discreetly following her every move was a stealth team from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and local police.
Puja boarded a ‘Magic’ van, a local goods-cum-passenger vehicle. It wasn’t until the van was intercepted near Junction no. 8 in the Ashoknagar area in North 24 Parganas district that her facade came shattering down.
Inside her ordinary jute bags lay a cache of arms: six semi-automatic pistols (four 7mm and two 9mm bearing star logos), 12 magazines, and 200 rounds of 7.6mm live ammunition, apart from Rs 12,000 in cash and two mobile phones.
The broad-daylight bust on a busy street sent shockwaves through the neighborhood. The arrest of Bengal’s own ‘Revolver Rani’ also marked a major breakthrough against a wide interstate arms trafficking network.
Puja Biswas, a resident of Ward No. 12 under Habra Municipality, is far from a novice in the illicit arms trade. Investigators alleged that she is an old hand operating as a trusted “carrier” for larger syndicates.
In 2023, Puja was nabbed by the Duttapukur police from a passenger bus under almost identical circumstances. Though she served prison time following that bust, law enforcement officials say she returned to arms trafficking immediately upon her release.
“The woman was arrested earlier too… We have understood the modus operandi that a woman carrier will always be used to avoid suspicion,” said CID chief Natarajan Ramesh Babu.
Preliminary questioning suggests a possible cross-border operation. The weapons — suspected to have originated from Munger in Bihar and possibly tied to the Jamalpur Ordnance Factory — are believed to be brought into West Bengal by road before being routed towards border hubs like Bongaon, and ultimately smuggled into Bangladesh. A train ticket to Jamalpur seized from Puja has further cemented the Bihar connection, prompting the CID to coordinate directly with Bihar Police and factory officials to trace batch numbers and verify if any stock is missing.
The investigation has also cast a spotlight on her personal network. Police have discovered that Puja — who has been active in the trade for nearly five years after divorcing her husband and getting her daughter married — was operating in cahoots with her present husband, Nilratan.
Residing in the Gopalnagar police station area, Nilratan runs a local clothing business, which investigators suspect is a front used to mask their illicit arms trade.
Police are currently on the hunt to locate him, with officers believing his arrest might unlock crucial details about the buyers of these illegal arms.
Reflecting the seriousness of the haul, particularly during the sensitive post-election period, the state CID has constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a DIG-rank officer to dismantle the supply chain.
Officers are also probing the intended destination of the massive consignment seized from Puja on Sunday, and whether it was meant to fuel organised crime or political violence in the border districts of the state.
Social media was also quick to react to the arrest, with political figures taking to X to highlight the operation, referring to Puja Biswas as the area’s infamous ‘Revolver Rani’. Local BJP leader Rakesh Singh hailed the arrest of “Revolver Rani” on X, calling it a “Big action by Bengal Police”.
Meanwhile, Puja Biswas remains in custody and is scheduled to be produced before the court following preliminary interrogation, as the SIT expands its sweeps across North 24 Parganas and inter-state borders to locate her husband.