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Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011
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Empty cartridges found dumped in canal

Staff Reporter

They were found in 33 bags a few kilometres from SHAR in Nellore district

PHOTO: K. Ravi Kumar

DISTURBING INCIDENT:Empty cartridges found in a canal at Menakur village in Nellore district on Tuesday.—

NELLORE: Police sounded an alert after 33 bagfuls of spent bullets of different calibre were found abandoned in a dried up canal near Menakur village of Naidupet mandal on Tuesday morning.

The seized spent cartridges are being sent for forensic tests to determine where they were manufactured and to know other details such as the batch numbers etc. The cartridges were of weapons such as Self Loading Rifle (SLR), .303 rifle, Sten gun, AK-47, .9 mm pistol, and Light Machine Gun (LMG), according to Gudur DSP K. Narayana Reddy.

The finding of the empty bullets caused some concern as they were found just a few kilometres away from SHAR from where the PSLV-C16 is to be launched on Wednesday.

Mr. Reddy said villagers found the bags containing bullets, each weighing more than 10 kg in Gaddagunta canal. Police officials who examined the empty bullets found some serial numbers on the cases and ‘Made in USA' stamp on the brass cartridges. Police suspect that the spent cartridges might have been dumped in the canal a few months ago. The water had dried up exposing the material.

In a statement, the district SP, E. Damodar, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the spent cartridges could be part of a consignment imported by a scrap metal melting unit at Attavaram village. The unit imports shiploads of scrap and the cartridges could be part of it, he said, ruling out the hand of Maoists.

The incident brought to the fore the poor security measures and scanning by some shipping consignment agencies. Police said a similar incident was reported on the outskirts of Chennai recently.

Guntur Range IGP Harish Kumar Gupta also visited the spot. A case has been registered under Section 102 of Cr.P.C.

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