West Bengal cop arrested for stealing firearms from strongroom

The theft of 18 weapons was detected by the police officer\'s successor

Update: 2020-01-22 14:07 GMT
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Kolkata: A West Bengal police officer assigned to guard the maalkhana (strong room) has been caught for allegedly stealing 18 firearms from a police station in a Maoist-affected district of Jangalmahal.

Sub-inspector (SI) Tarapada Tudu of the Jamboni police station in West Midnapore was arrested by the Jhargram district police on Wednesday along with three other persons, all civilians, including a National Volunteer Force (NVF) member named Lakshmiram Rana.

Sources said that back in 2018 Tudu was posted at the Lalgarh police station--where Rana was also posted—and put in charge of guarding the maalkhana (strong room) where a huge number of firearms were stored, including those seized from Maoists and local people.

After his transfer on June 27, 2019, Tarapada Tudu’s successor Biswajit Panja found that 18 firearms were missing. Investigations led to the arrest of two villagers, Dilip Senapati and his father Sudhangshu of Binpur, who allegedly used to receive the stolen firearms from Rana. Tudu was nailed on the basis of Rana’s confession.

The four accused men were produced in court, which remanded them in five days' police custody. Tudu has been suspended, and will be subjected to a departmental inquiry.

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