Bhubaneswar: A viral video of a man resorting to blank firing at a festival in Bhubaneswar has helped the special crime unit (SCU) of the commissionerate police bust an illegal firearms trading racket. The SCU arrested the man on Friday and seized two illegal semi-automatic pistols and eight rounds of ammunition from his possession, suspecting his link with interstate arms dealers. The accused was identified as Biswajit Behera (33) of Gobindpur in Cuttack district.“After coming across the viral video, we kept him under surveillance. Acting on a tip-off, we intercepted Behera’s vehicle near the block office in Balipatna on the city’s outskirts. A search led to the recovery of the two firearms and eight bullets,” said DCP (SCU) Anup Kumar Kanungo.During interrogation, Behera allegedly told police that he had purchased the weapons from a Bhubaneswar-based supplier, who sourced them from Munger in Bihar, a major hub for illegal firearms manufacturing. He claimed he procured the weapons for self-protection, fearing attacks by anti-social elements because of his sand mining business.“We are probing the supply chain, financial transactions involved in the purchase and possible links of the accused with other criminal networks. Behera was previously booked in five cases involving criminal intimidation and assault at Olatpur and Gobindpur police stations in Cuttack district over the past year,” Kanungo said.The seizure comes amid growing concerns over the use of illegal firearms in Bhubaneswar, with three firing incidents reported in the past three months. On Nov 7, a youth was shot dead at point-blank range in Laxmisagar, allegedly over gang rivalry. Two days earlier, a man died after being accidentally shot with an illegal firearm during celebratory firing in the Sisupalgarh area. On Sept 21, miscreants allegedly resorted to blank firing during a group clash in Bharatpur following objectionable remarks on social media.