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Proliferation of small arms worrying cops

Not an isolated case of use of small weapons, say police

Raipur: Proliferation of small arms in Chhattisgarh has started worrying the police after the brother of a rebel BJP candidate was shot dead by followers of the official candidate in a local body poll in Durg district.

Followers of BJP candidate Parmanand Patel and rebel party candidate Yogendra Singh clashed in Bhilai on Friday night in which Yogendra's brother was shot dead, police said.

Two persons were arrested today, besides one yesterday in that connection, Railway SP Pawan Dev told PTI here.

"However, the most important thing is one semi-automatic small weapon (pistol), used in the crime, has been recovered along with a country made pistol from them," Dev said.

Although three persons have been arrested in this case, but the worrisome factor was the use of small arms in a ward member election, between the followers of a same political party, a police officer said.

It was not the isolated case of use of small weapons as earlier one senior Congress leader was killed in Kanker, the husband of a ward member in Bilaspur and couple of murders in Sarguja district, police said.

Naxalites have good numbers of weapons but such small arms proliferation among the people in the society is endangering the peace in the community, the officers said.

Durg district Deputy Inspector General of Police Ramesh Chandra Sharma also said that although police was keeping an eye on the matter but ``the culture and principles of people are changing along with their behaviour and couple with that the proliferation of small arms could be a risk to the society, especially a peaceful one like Chhattisgarh.'' -- PTI

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Proliferation of small arms worrying cops

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