Arms recovered from IRB personnel at Guwahati station

Agencies GUHAWATI, January 12 The Government Railway Police on Monday recovered 442 rounds of live ammunition of assorted weapons from the possession of Assistant Sub­Inspector Ram Naresh Rai of the 3rd Indian Reserve Batallion based in Jowai, Meghalaya during a security check on the Delhi­bound North East Express train at Guwahati railway station.An official release of the Assam Police stated that recovered live ammunitions included 41 rounds of INSAS rifle, 60 rounds of .303 rifle, 78 rounds of 9mm pistol, 49 rounds of .32 pistol, 124 rounds of 7.62 rifle, 20 rounds of .38 revolver, 10 rounds of AK­47, 60 rounds of .22 revolver, one live grenade and six empty cases of INSAS. Mr. Rai, arrested and subsequently remanded in GRP custody, was on his way home to Bariyarpur village under Rajapakar police station in Bihar’s Vaishali district. Superintendent, Railway Police (SRP), Guwahati, Rounak Ali Hazarika told The Hindu that prior to his present posting he was an armourer of 1st Battalion Meghalaya in 1998. Mr. Hazarika said the interrogation of the arrested IRB personnel also led to the recovery of one carbine, three magazines and 70 rounds of ammunitions by Meghalaya Police after the GRP immediate sharing of the information. “The arrested IR personnel is the in­charge of Armed Guards of Jowai jail. In 1998, he was posted at as the armourer of the 1st Battalion of the Meghalaya Police. So we are trying to ascertain if he had been involved in pilferage of arms and ammunitions since then. We have sought help from Meghalaya Police to proceed with the investigation. Interrogations are on to find out the origin and final destination of pilfered ammunitions recovered from his possession,” added the SRP.