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NIA begins inquiry into interstate arms smuggling from NE
The Bihar police had busted a network of arms smugglers in May this year with the arrest of two people
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into alleged supply of arms, including AK-47 rifles, from the northeast to Bihar, in a bid to investigate if there is a larger conspiracy and an interstate smuggling racket involved, people aware of the matter said.
The Bihar police had busted a network of arms smugglers in May this year with the arrest of two people – Vikash Kumar and Satyam Kumar – from Muzaffarpur railway station and recovered a butt and a scope of an illegally procured AK-47 rifle. The probe revealed that Vikash had bought the rifle from one key supplier – Ahmad Ansari, a resident of Gopalganj. The rifle was later found to be hidden along with five rounds of live ammunition near a bridge in Muzaffarpur. Three days later, Ansari was arrested from Dimapur, Nagaland along with a mobile phone and two walkie-talkies, Bihar police had said.
“The NIA has taken over the probe from Bihar police and registered a case in the first week of August,” an officer said on condition of anonymity.
“The NIA has been roped in to find out if there is an interstate racket and a larger conspiracy involved as the rifle had come from Dimapur. It is possible that more such weapons might have come from the northeast to be supplied to arms syndicates or individuals in Bihar,” said the officer.
Earlier in 2019, the NIA probed the Purnea arms and ammunition smuggling case, in which a consignment of smuggled arms, including barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs) meant for Maoists and gangsters of organised crime syndicates was seized along the Myanmar border.
