A viral video of a woman scrubbing firearms helped Madhya Pradesh police in the crackdown on an illicit pistol factory running in Morena district's village. After the video, purportedly showing a woman washing pistols with soap, went viral on social media, police verified it and tracked it down to a house in the Ganeshpura area - from where the illegal arms unit had been operated for the last six months.
A police team on Friday night raided a house and arrested two men-son duo, Mahua police station in-charge Pawan Singh told news agency PTI.
Police also seized three country-made pistols, several half-made weapons, and various other equipment and materials from the factory.
The action came after a viral video showed a saree-clad woman rubbing a country-made pistol with soap and brush to make it shine.
The woman's husband, Shakti Kapoor Sakhwar, and father-in-law Biharilal Sakhwar were arrested for allegedly running the illegal arms factory, the official said.
Police have registered a case against the accused under the Arms Act and are investigating where they supplied the weapons. Both accused were produced before a local court on Saturday, which sent Biharilal Sakhwar to jail and his son to one-day police custody for interrogation.
In another incident, a Tihar jail official was suspended on Friday for misconduct after a purported video showed him dancing at a party while brandishing a pistol went viral on social media.
The 18-second video clip showed Deepak Sharma, who was posted as assistant superintendent of police at the Mandoli Jail, swaying to the Bollywood song 'Khalnayak hoon main' at a party hosted by a political leader in east Delhi.