VARANASI: Police announced on Sunday, November 1, 2026, that a search of a house in Shivaji Nagar Colony, Samneghat, had uncovered an alleged illegal arms workshop. Lanka police reported two arrests and the recovery of three ready pistols, 19 unfinished weapons and 143 live cartridges. For residents of this residential pocket, the case concerns alleged weapons manufacture inside a house rather than a recovery from a public roadside checkpoint.
The two arrested accused were identified as Vimal Kant Jha, 55, and Aman Kumar Mishra, 22. Police accounts placed Jha at the Samneghat house and Mishra in Ashokpuram Colony, Dafi. The manufacturing and supply allegations remain police claims; the arrests do not establish guilt.
Residents who face an immediate safety threat can use 112, the police helpline listed on the district administration's official website. The reports reviewed for this story do not announce a public evacuation order or a new movement restriction for Shivaji Nagar Colony. The seizure should therefore not be read as an instruction for every household in Samneghat to leave the area.
What police said was recovered
The reported inventory separates completed weapons from items still being made. It includes three locally made .32 bore pistols and 19 unfinished country made firearms or related unfinished weapon units. Police also reported six magazines. Keeping these groups separate is important: adding the unfinished items to the ready pistols would misdescribe the recovery as 22 completed firearms.
The ammunition account lists 65 live .32 bore rounds, 40 live .315 bore rounds and 30 live .45 bore rounds, alongside eight other live rounds. Those four groups total the reported 143 live cartridges. A further 24 spent cartridge cases were listed separately. They are not additional live ammunition and are not included in the 143 figure.
| Reported recovery | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Ready .32 bore pistols | 3 |
| Unfinished weapons | 19 |
| Magazines | 6 |
| Live cartridges | 143 |
| Spent cartridge cases | 24 |
Police described equipment for working on weapon components inside a room in the house. The items reported included welding equipment, a grinder, polishing and drilling machines, iron plates, pipes and hand tools. The inventory also included springs and pieces of metal. These items form part of the police explanation for treating the premises as a suspected manufacturing location.
The account of the recovery includes 309 small and large iron pieces, 15 unfinished grips and five unfinished magazines. Reports also describe wooden components and moulds among the material seized. These are components and workshop materials, rather than a further count of complete firearms, and should be read separately from the pistol and ammunition totals.
How the search developed
According to police accounts, examination of communications in an existing arms investigation led officers to Mishra. Police said information obtained during questioning then took the team to the house in Shivaji Nagar Colony. The search concerned a room on the lower level, where officers said weapons, components and manufacturing equipment were found.
Police alleged that weapons were assembled at the premises and sold at different locations in the city. Investigators were checking the people connected with the activity and the supply network. The opened reports differ in parts of their account of the arrest sequence, so this story does not reconstruct that sequence or repeat a disputed description of an exchange of fire.
What residents should do
Use the district's official helpline directory for the police emergency number. When reporting a current threat, provide the actual location and what you have observed. The police allegations about this particular house should not be extended to other tenants or homes in the colony without evidence.
Other recent local policing coverage includes the Amanpuri burglary inquiry, the prohibited kite string seizure and Chowk police station's certification. Those are separate cases and institutional developments, with no connection to the Samneghat allegations established here.
