Live bullets found in Rajpath bin

Two paramilitary officials stumbled upon 50 cartridges during a routine patrolling operation in central Delhi’s Rajpath area on Monday night.

Two paramilitary officials stumbled upon 50 cartridges during a routine patrolling operation in central Delhi’s Rajpath area on Monday night.

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According to police, the ammunition, meant for sub-machine guns, included 40 live cartridges and was recovered from a dustbin behind Shastri Bhavan around 12:30 am.

“The ammunition was in a plastic carry bag and was discovered by a team of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) A-89 company who were patrolling the area,” said a senior police officer.

The bag was found in a blue dustbin on the north side of Rajpath just a kilometre from Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House complex.

“CRPF head constable Santosh Rawade and cadet Vinay Kumar found the package in a dustbin located in Enclosure No 32 behind the Shastri Bhavan and immediately informed their inspector who called the Parliament Street police station,” the officer said.

News of the recovery was also conveyed to central intelligence agencies after which the recovered bullets were handed over to a Delhi Police team.

Another team inspected the spot from where the ammunition was recovered.

“The cartridges seem to be MMG and .12 bore bullets.

Both were packed in separate bags and are produced by four different arms manufacturing companies,” the officer said.

The police said they were still uncertain about who abandoned the said package at such a sensitive location.

Footage from several CCTV cameras in the area was being scrutinised.

A case under the Arms Act had been registered and investigations were under way.