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20 security personnel, 4 others get 10-yr jail in arms supply case
The supply of arms and ammunition to the Maoists and terrorists came to light after two CRPF constables were arrested
Lucknow: A special court in Uttar Pradesh on Friday awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment each to 24 people, including 20 personnel of the state police, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in connection with a 2010 case pertaining to the supply of arms and ammunition to Maoists and terrorists.
According to Rampur additional district government counsel (criminal) Pratap Singh Maurya, the court of special judge (Essential Commodities Act) Vijay Kumar also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 penalty on the accused who were found guilty on Thursday.
“Twenty-four people were convicted and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by the court in the 2010 case. The accused were also fined ₹10,000 each,” Maurya said.
The supply of arms and ammunition to the Maoists and terrorists came to light after two CRPF constables were arrested, with several cartridges in their possession, by a special task force (STF) of the state police in Rampur on April 10, 2010.
According to Maurya, the STF was acting on inputs that arms and ammunition were being supplied from a CRPF reserve in Rampur and various PAC units across the state to Maoists and terrorists in the state, Bihar and Jharkhand through a person in Prayagraj. The tip-off, he added, was received days after 76 CRPF personnel were killed in a deadly Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada on April 6 that year.
During the course of investigation, a total of 25, including policemen, CRPF and PAC personnel, were arrested from across the state, including Rampur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, by the STF.
In July 2010, police filed its charge sheet against the 25 people – 21 CRPF, PAC and police personnel and four civilians – in connection with the case. However, one of the accused, Yasodha Nand, a retired armourer of the PAC, died during the course of trial.
On Thursday, all the remaining 24 accused were convicted under 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 413 (habitually dealing in stolen property), 120B (criminal conspiracy) sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Arms Act in the case.
Of the 20 personnel, 14 were still in service, till the time of conviction, while six retired in the past 13 years.
The accused were identified as Vinod Paswan, Vinesh Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Amar Singh, Banwari Lal, Rajesh Shahi, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Amresh Kumar, Vinod Kumar Singh, Vansh Lal, Nathi Ram, Sushil Kumar Mishra, Jitendra Singh, Akhilesh Kumar, Ram Kripal Singh, Manish Rai, Rajai Pal Singh, Baburi, Om Prakash Singh, Rak Krishna Shukla and civilians Dilip Rai, Aakash alias Guddu, Murali Dhar Sharma and Shankar.
According to Maurya, initially, Nand and two CRPF constables – Vinod Paswan and Vinesh Kumar – were arrested. “Later, one Nathi Ram Saini was arrested from Moradabad on the basis of information collected from the arrested accused. Yashodha Nand had provided a diary with names of the accused people and details of bank accounts, after which the remaining arrests were made,” he said.
