Two CRPF troopers, three cops held for selling arms (Third Lead)

LUCKNOW - Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and three Uttar Pradesh police personnel were among six people arrested in the state on suspicion of selling arms and ammunition to Maoists, officials said Friday. The sixth is a retired sub-inspector of the state police.

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

A head constable and a constable armourers were held later from Jhansi district, the official said.

“Yashodanandan Singh, a retired sub-inspector, Vinod Paswan and Vinesh Singh - two ‘havaldars’ (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,” he 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.

Two more policemen - Bans Lal, a head constable armourer and Akhilesh Pandey, constable armourer - have been held on suspicion of selling arms and ammunition to Maoists, an official press release later said.

Both were posted at the police lines in Jhansi district, from where they were arrested Friday. Over 100 live cartridges of various weapons and arms components were recovered from their possession, the release added.

“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.

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 Brij 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 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.