Bengal police ASI arrested on charge of stealing 18 rifles from Police Strong room at Lalgarh .

Jhargram/East Midnapore/Kolkata, January 22 (HS): In a  shocking incident, one Assistance Sub Inspector of West Bengal police and an NVF member were today arrested along with two of their accomplices on charge of stealing as many as 18 rifles from the Strong Room of Lalgarh Police station in the Maoist dominated area of East Midnapore district during the past few months, sending shock waves to the state administration.

Informing this police here today told Hindusthan Samachar that acting on a tip-off on the basis of confirmed information, a team of plainclothes policemen raided the house of ASI Tarapada Tudu and three of his close associates including a member of the National Volunteer Force (NVF) Laxmiram Rana, at Jambani area in the district and arrested all of them on charge of stealing altogether 18 rifles from the Strong room of Lalgarh police station last year.

Soon they were brought to the District Police headquarters at Contai for interrogation to know the whereabouts of all those stolen rifles, which were believed to be taken away from the Strong Room one after another during the last six months or so, the police said.

Efforts are also being made to know who is presently posted at Jamboni Police station, and Rana, the two main accused in the case, whether the stolen arms were sold or handed over to any extremist group like the Maoists or send them somewhere else.

Both the accused, who were immediately suspended from their work, and two other arrested people were produced in Jhargram District Court today which remanded them to police custody for a week so that they could be interrogated further to know the whereabouts of the stolen rifles and whether they had any connection with any extremist group, the police added.