Munger Arms Case: NIA conducts searches at 12 places in UP, Bihar

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted raids at 12 places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in connection with the investigation of Munger Arms Case.

The case pertains to recovery of three AK-47 rifles along with other weapons on the disclosure of accused Shamsher Alam from the house of his sister and accused Rizwana Begum. The Munger Police had registered the case on September 7 last year.

On the basis of credible evidence collected during the investigation, searches were conducted in the houses of suspect Hulas Pandey and his close associates at different places at Buxar, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Varanasi, and Patna.

The NIA re-registered this case under sections 380,414 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 25,26 and 35 of the Arms Act,1959 and Section 39 of the UA(P) Act, 1967 on October 5 last year.

In this case, a large number of prohibited weapons including AK series weapons were stolen and smuggled out of Jabalpur to various Naxal organisations and criminal gangs.

During the searches, NIA recovered cash over Rs.29 lakh, 4 Laptops, 5 Hand disk, 12 Pen drives, 12 mobile phones, and a Desktop Computer.

NIA has arrested and remanded 15 accused in the case and so far chargesheet has been filed against 9 accused including kingpin of the racket Purushottam Lal Rajak, Suresh Thakur, Imran Alam, and Niyajul Rahman.

The investigation is underway in this case.