Man claiming to be BSF officer held for entering jail with gun

A person claiming himself to be a BSF personnel was arrested today while trying to enter Naini Central Jail here with a loaded pistol and some extra cartridges, jail authorities said.
He was not carrying any license for the weapon.
"The person said his name was Vinod Kumar Pandey, a resident of Pratapgarh district, was found to be carrying the pistol and cartridges during frisking at the gates of the jail," DIG of Naini Central Jail, S K Srivastava said.
Apparently he had come to meet one Hashim, who has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for attempt to murder and was lodged in the jail on the outskirts of the city.

"The person did produce an identity card which showed him to be a Head Constable with the BSF. He was not asked about his place of posting since BSF personnel are advised against disclosing the same due to security reasons," he said.
"However, our suspicion deepened since it was odd for a BSF personnel to come inside a high-security premises carrying a firearm as he should have known that these are prohibited items," the DIG said.

"We were also surprised when Pandey said that he was not carrying license for his pistol. Even a layman knows that this was mandatory," he said.

"He was unable to give a coherent reply to questions of whether he had come to Allahabad on leave. It appeared that he was trying to conceal something, hence we handed him over to the district police," Shrivastava said.
"What connection the visitor had with the inmate and other related details will be known only after the probe is over," the DIG added.