The arms seized in Nagpur may have been procured from either LTTE or Maoist rebels and were meant for Naxalites
The arms seized in Nagpur may have been procured from either LTTE or Maoist rebels and were meant for Naxalites
MUMBAI: Intelligence sources said on Wednesday that the cache of carbines, rifles and ammunition seized in Nagpur on December 28 was meant for the indigenous Naxalite groups. They also said the cache may have been procured from the Maoist rebels in Nepal and The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka.
Sources in the security establishment told DNA that the weapons and the ammunition were found manufactured in the US and Pakistan. All weapons and bullets sported detail and the name of their manufacturing countries, a source said. They also said four persons had been arrested so far in connection with the incident.
But officials, however, did not want to comment on the “corridors” which might have been used to smuggle the weapons.“Secret channels might have been used for the shipment,” said a senior police officer, seeking anonymity. Maharashtra Director General of Police PS Pasricha told DNA on Wednesday, “The foreign-hand angle to the shipment of the arms consignment is being probed. Also the quantum of seizure is significant since it was essentially meant for the country’s extremist groups.”
Pasricha said a Hyderabad-based Naxalite commander was arrested on December 30 in connection with the seizure and that he could divulge the name of the arms-dealer responsible for the shipment.
Inspector General of Police (anti-Naxalite operations) Pankaj Gupta said, “We are probing if the seized consignment was ferried by any ultra outfit based in Nepal or Sri Lanka. Other factors, too, are being considered.” The Nepal Maoists had established formal links with the People’s War (PW) in June 2001 by forming the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia. Commissioner of Police Nagpur SPS Yadav said, “We are exploring all angles, including the possible foreign-hand factor.”
Anatomy of a case
This is the believed to be the largest cache of arms meant for Indian Naxalite groups that has been seized in 2006
The private car carrying the consignment was spotted by an on-duty policeman, who then stopped the car for a routine check
In the search, the police recovered the carbines and other ammunition from under the car seat.
The police are yet to determine where the car was coming from and where it was headed.
The Anti-Naxalite wing of the Mumbai police and the Nagpur Police are probing the incident
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