The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday arrested four liquor smugglers of Bihar from Varanasi in connection with the murder of two Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables whose mutilated bodies were found on the railway track under Gahmar police station of Ghazipur district on August 21, said senior police officials here on Tuesday.
The two RPF constables identified as Javed Khan and Pramod Kumar were allegedly pushed off the moving Barmer-Guwahati Express after being assaulted by a group of liquor smugglers early on August 20. In a press note, the STF said the four arrested accused were identified as Pankaj Kumar Ram, Prem Chand Verma, Vinay Kumar and Vilendra Pasi, all residents of Patna in Bihar.
They said the police team had recovered one 9mm pistol of one of the constables and seven cartridges and a wallet from their possession. They further said the recovery of the deceased constables’ belongings established their involvement in the murder.
A senior STF official said all four accused were part of the liquor smuggling racket and involved in smuggling liquor from Uttar Pradesh to dry state Bihar by train. He said the STF grew suspicious about their involvement while scanning the mobile phones operational in the same area where the bodies were found at the time of crime.
He said the presence of these smugglers was found in the same location after which their movement was tracked and they were arrested from Varanasi. The official said on being questioned, the four accused admitted boarding the same train from Mughalsarai station on the day of incident after purchasing liquor from Chandauli.
{{/usCountry}}He said the presence of these smugglers was found in the same location after which their movement was tracked and they were arrested from Varanasi. The official said on being questioned, the four accused admitted boarding the same train from Mughalsarai station on the day of incident after purchasing liquor from Chandauli.
{{/usCountry}}He said all accused were sitting in the general compartment and were carrying liquor bottles in four different bags when the two RPF constables reached there for checking. He said the constables tried to catch them following which they attacked and pushed them out of the moving train. The STF official said the incident remained unnoticed as most of the passengers in the compartment were in deep sleep.