Jamshedpur: In a breakthrough for the Sonari illegal arms factory case, the prime accused, Samir Sardar, surrendered before a Jamshedpur court on Tuesday following months on the run. Faced with mounting pressure from the Jharkhand Police—who had already issued public proclamations and affixed attachment notices at his residence—Sardar chose to turn himself in and has since been remanded to judicial custody.
The case, which involves an intricate weapons-manufacturing network operating out of Tillu Bhatta, was first blown wide open by the Bihar Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). Investigations revealed that Sardar’s operation utilized local lathe machines for initial fabrication before transporting the semi-finished firearms to Munger for professional finishing, eventually flooding districts across Bihar and Jharkhand with illicit weaponry.
According to the police, proclamations had already been issued against Samir Sardar and his associate Sushil Kerai, and notices were affixed at their respective residences. The complaint against Sardar and his associates was filed in 2025 when the Bihar ATS, acting on specific intelligence inputs, conducted a raid in the Tillu Bhatta area with assistance from Sonari police. The operation led to the exposure of an illegally run gun factory inside a residence.
During the raid, police recovered six live cartridges, a country-made firearm, and a large cache of semi-finished weapons. Three lathe machines used in weapon manufacturing were also seized and transported to Sonari police station with the help of a crane.
Investigations had revealed that Samir Sardar had been actively involved in the illegal arms manufacturing trade for nearly six months.
The initial stages of weapon fabrication were carried out in Sonari using lathe machines, after which the arms were sent to Munger for final finishing. The finished weapons were then supplied across several districts of Bihar and Jharkhand.
Police also received inputs suggesting that Samir was involved in local arms supply within the city and was additionally engaged in the illegal sale of ganja from his residence.
Police officials stated that further interrogation of the accused will be conducted to identify and dismantle the wider network linked to the illegal arms racket.
