Two CRPF troopers among four held for arms smuggling (Second Lead)

LUCKNOW - Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were among four people arrested in Uttar Pradesh on suspicion of selling arms and ammunition to Maoists, a police official said Friday.

Besides the two CRPF personnel, a retired sub-inspector of the state police and a constable armourer of a police academy in Moradabad were held by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brij Lal told reporters here.

“Yashodanandan Singh, a retired sub-inspector, Vinod Paswan and Vinesh Singh - two ‘havildars’ (head constables) armourers at the CRPF group centre in Rampur - were arrested Thursday. Nathi Ram, a constable armourer at the Ambedkar Police Academy Moradabad was arrested from Moradabad on Friday,” said Lal.

“Taking into account the quantity of live cartridges and shells recovered from those arrested, we suspect they could be involved in selling these to Maoists or some large groups. However, we are yet to confirm their links with Maoists,” Lal said.

“Over 5,000 live cartridges/magazines of pistols, carbine, AK 47, SLR (Self-Loading Rifle) and other weapons have been recovered along with around 250 kg of shells and other arms components from their possession,” he added.

According to the STF, the arrests were made following an operation based on an intelligence tip-off received in the aftermath of a massacre of 76 security personnel by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.

“We had received an information that CRPF men were smuggling arms and ammunition from the government armouries,” said Lal.

The STF officials said Yashodanandan Singh was the kingpin while Paswan was the main supplier of the arms and ammunition that were smuggled.

Significantly, during interrogation, the four have confessed that security personnel of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) deployed in Gonda, Allahabad, Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chandauli, Basti, Mirzapur districts also assisted them in the illegal trade.

“On the basis of the statement given by the four, we will continue our operation in several districts of Uttar Pradesh. We have also sought assistance from CRPF officials,” Lal said.