Police recover some weapons, bullets stolen by protesters

The Mumbai police have found that some of their weapons and ammunition have gone missing after Saturday’s protests. HT reports

The Mumbai police have found that some of their weapons and ammunition have gone missing after Saturday’s protests.

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The protesters who vandalised private and public property at Azad Maidan also allegedly made away with police ammunition.

Sources in the crime branch claimed that the protesters stole two self-loading rifles (SLR) and a pistol from cops on duty.

Members of the mob also allegedly stole 160 rounds of bullets — 150 used in SLRs and 10 from the 9-mm pistol. Sources said the rounds were stolen from the Azad Maidan police and from a police van parked in the area.

While the two SLRs were found in south Mumbai, one of which was broken, the pistol is yet to be recovered.

The police also found 10 rounds of the SLR abandoned near a McDonald’s outlet near CST, while 19 rounds were found in Mumbra. A senior crime branch official said that the remaining ammunition is still missing.

Police said they had to fire a lot of rounds of rubber bullets and live bullets to get the mob under control.

They are in the process of doing a check to determine the total number of rounds fired by them.

Two persons were killed and 63 injured during the violence on Saturday, after a group, which had gathered to protest the recent killings of Muslims at Assam and Myanmar,went on a rampage and vandalised private and public property.