US-make grenade launcher meant for ultras seized
A US-make grenade launcher to be delivered to Left wing extremists has been seized in the outskirts here for the first time in Jharkhand, police said on Wednesday.
People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) head Dinesh Gop had struck a deal to purchase the weapon for Rs10 lakh and its destination was somewhere near the borders of Khunti-Gumla, SSP Praveen Kumar Singh told newsmen.
The weapon was on Tuesday seized from a car near the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, bordering Ramgarh district, and its two occupants - Rupesh Kumar Singh and Dilip Kumar Singh - were arrested, Singh said.
Rupesh is the son of home guard Krishna Kant Singh posted in Bihar's Begusarai and his uncle is also in the police department at Khagaria in Bihar, the SSP said.
Dilip had delivered five rifles to the PLFI a month ago, he added. The police could approach the Intelligence Bureau to find out from where the weapon was procured.
Terming it as an important recovery, Singh said M-79 grenade launchers were widely used by the US army during the Vietnam War and had become obsolete since.
"The 29-inch weapon has a range of 350m and weighs six pound. It can fire five to seven grenades manually," he said.
The arms suppliers would have supplied grenades at a later date, he said when asked whether any grenades were recovered as well.
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