Cops Turn Gunrunners

THE ARRESTS OF PARAMILITARY PERSONNEL BLOW THE LID OFF A FLOURISHING SUPPLY CHAIN OF ARMS AND AMMUNITION FOR MAOIST INSURGENTS

- Amitabh Srivastava

TILL RECENTLY, AN ANCI ENT SAKHUA TREE in a corner of the Chutupalu Valley in Jharkhand had stood mute witness to the desolation around it. That came to an end the day a team of Jharkhand policemen, guided by a man in handcuffs, started digging at a spot nearby. Soon enough, they unearthed a grey bag bearing the legend—‘Made in Rajasthan Double Pari Mustard Oil’. Inside it was another gunny bag with 450 rounds of 5.56mm live cartridges and a note with a description of the bullets.

But the bullet haul under the tree was not the big surprise, it was the man who led them to it. Awinash Kumar a.k.a. Chunnu is a constable with the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and had just been arrested after a tip-off that he and his men were supplying arms and ammunition to the Maoists in the area. The bullets were part of a consignment he and his men were to deliver but which they had to hurriedly bury after increased police presence forced them to improvise an underground stash. The Maoists were to be told the location of the cartridges after the cash transaction. It wasn’t to be.