Police find nearly 240 blank firing guns buried in Istanbul’s Üsküdar

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Turkish police found nearly 240 blank firing guns buried underground in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul late on Sept. 27. The guns were found after an anonymous tip was received by police officers. 

“The guns we obtained were blank firing guns. Examinations were made,” Istanbul Police Chief Mustafa Çalışkan said, adding that the case wasn’t “terror related,” after he examined the excavation efforts for nearly 10 minutes. 

According to the tip made by an unidentified person, the guns were buried underground in 2009 in an empty field. Police officers investigated the area and informed the anti-terror police about the case. The anti-terror police closed all entrances and exits to the area in order for the excavations to be conducted with the help of heavy machinery. The excavation efforts took three hours.

Most of the guns that were found were broken and were placed in a line in order to be examined before being taken to the Directorate of Criminal Police Laboratory for further examinations. In addition, according to the police, the majority of the guns were unusable. 

The search in the Burhaniye neighborhood of Üsküdar continued on early Sept. 28, as the police continued to take security precautions in the area. The efforts ended later in the day.