BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): The state police headquarters (PHQ) has written letters to Union government, state government of Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh to trace the origin of an AK-47 assault rifle and a wireless set that were found at the site of encounter with Naxals in the state last month.
The PHQ wants to know how they managed to get hold of sophisticated equipment, officials said.
"The high-end weapon had a folding metal butt, not a wooden one. The guns with folding metal butts are considered more sophisticated. Also, carrying them around is easier," a senior police officer posted at the PHQ said.
The gun appears to have been looted from security forces. In last several years, more that 1,000 AK-47 rifles were looted by Naxals during attacks on the camps of police and other security forces.
In 2018, National Investigation Agency had unearthed a gang of criminals in Jabalpur,†which sourced used parts of discarded and condemned AK-47 rifles from Central Ordinance Depot in Jabalpur to assemble AK-47 rifles that were sold to organised criminals for prices ranging between Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh a piece.
Farid Shapoo, IG, anti-Naxal operation, told Free Press that the serial number of the seized gun had been circulated to different law-enforcing agencies in the country to trace the weapon's origins. "We are also trying to find whether the gun has connection with Jabalpur-based gang," he said.
An AK-47 assault rifle was seized during an encounter with Naxalites in Balaghat district on June 20. It was for the first time that an AK-47 was found in possession of Naxals in the state.
The Balaghat police had gunned down three Naxals in jungles of Lodhagi in Lanji area of the district in an encounter that took place within limits of Bahela police post.
Those who were killed included a top Naxal commander Nagesh, carrying a reward of Rs 27 lakh on his head, area commander Manoj and a woman named Rame who was Manoj's bodyguard. Manoj and Rame carried reward of Rs 14 lakh each on their head.
Besides, Naxal literature, 303 and 12 bore guns were recovered from the spot.
