The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Andhra police teams in city on arms probe

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Monday, Sep 11, 2006
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Andhra police teams in city on arms probe

L. Srikrishna

Investigators visit branches of cargo operator

CHENNAI : Three special teams from Andhra Pradesh Police arrived in the city on Sunday to investigate the case of transportation of weapons from Ambattur to Andhra Pradesh.

Informed sources said that the teams visited different branches of the cargo operator in the city from where the consignment was clandestinely booked on three different dates -- August 10 2005, May 9 2006 and May 11, 2006 to Nellore and Vijayawada districts. The weapons were seized on September 8 in Andhra Pradesh.

"We are in the initial stage of conducting enquiries with various persons," a senior officer coordinating with the Andhra Police team told The Hindu . The investigation teams, he said, are gathering information on whether the empty rocket shells and rocket launchers among other accessories were manufactured here. "If the probe progresses on this line, the focus will be on the place where it was fabricated. If this angle is ruled out, then it is possible that Chennai was used as a transit point for the consignor", the officer said. If that is the case, the police will have to look for the person who had booked the consignment. This will involve the interrogation of persons connected with the cargo operator.

Another officer said that as the goods were reportedly transported from Ambattur Industrial Estate, a list of closed factories and sheds are being prepared. Finer details such as how recently or for how long a unit has been closed down are also being looked into. Similarly, lathes and industrial sheds engaged in fabrication and casting would be screened at random, he added. In a bid to ensure that the investigation was speeded up and ensure effective coordination with Andhra Police, the Chennai city police had sent an officer in the rank of SP to Hyderabad to personally inspect the seized weapons. It is understood that they are not imported, but indigenous ones, an officer said.

The seized empty rocket shells appear to have been fabricated locally and any skilled worker could produce them with the help of a drawing.

An officer from Andhra Pradesh, however, said weapons used by the Naxalites, though not sophisticated, are dangerous to the users. Several shooters suffer burns from misfired weapons, he said. More than finding out whether these weapons were manufactured here or simply transported to Andhra, the police are also searching for reasons for Chennai being used for such activity, a senior police officer said.

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