Four cops held for supplying arms to Maoists

LUCKNOW - Four policemen have been arrested from different districts of Uttar Pradesh on suspicion of being involved in a racket to smuggle arms and ammunition for Maoists, officials said Friday.

Carrying out a joint operation with the police, the Special Task Force (STF) Thursday arrested the four men from the Provincial Armed Constabulary from Gonda, Faizabad and Gorakhpur districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The four are Sushil Kumar, armourer with the PAC’s 30th battalion in Gonda, Jitendra Singh and Amar Singh, both deployed as armourers in Faizabad, and Rajesh Shahi, an armourer with the Gorakhpur police, an official said.

They were held after their names were disclosed by an armourer of Basti district, aabout 200 km from here, who is being interrogated for his alleged involvement in the racket.

“We assisted the STF in making the arrests on the basis of statements given by our armourer,” Superintendent of Police (Basti) Gyan Singh told IANS over telephone.

On April 30, Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brij Lal had told reporters that six people - two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers, three Uttar Pradesh police personnel and a retired sub inspector - had been arrested on suspicion of supplying arms and ammunition to Maoists.

According to him, over 5,000 live cartridges/magazines of pistols, carbine, AK 47, SLR (Self-Loading Rifle) and around 250 kg of shells and other arms components had been recovered from their possession.