During a joint operation, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from Gabrukhunda inside Panbari reserve forest in Assam’s Chirang district on Tuesday.
Based on specific information, the joint operation was conducted from 5 pm on September 23 by Chirang Police led by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Bijni along with the 5th Garhwal Rifles of the Indian Army and 54 Battalion of the Seema Suraksha Ball (SSB).
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The Chirang Police in a press statement said the joint operation team carried out a rigorous search operation from 5:30 am on Tuesday in Gabrukhunda inside Panbari reserve forest.
Gabrukhunda is located 18 km north of Panbari Police Station.
Based on the lead provided by their source and with the help of the sniffer dog of the Army, the team started digging at multiple places, the Chirang Police said.
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“During digging at one place, 8 packets containing some suspected plastic materials have been recovered,” said police.
After unfurling the packets in presence of “independent witnesses”, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.
The recovered items included factory-made rifles – 9; country-made rifles – 11; 7.62 AK series ammunition – 56; 7.62 ammunition – 10; 7.62 Pika sniper ammunition – 21; 7.62 Pika ammunition – 10; 7.62 CTN – 29; 333 Nitro – 1 and M20 ammunition – 1 and country-made ammunition – 5; empty cartridges – 83 and 12 bore empty cartridges – 15.
The other items recovered from the place included 7.62 pistol magazine – 3;.22 pistol magazine – 1; 12 volt battery weighing 17 kg; HYT hand-held radio set (made in China) with additional battery – 2; 93 ft wire; suspected lead/iron balls – 10 and one extra barrel.
The Chirang Police has not revealed any details about the recovered arms and ammunition but it is a known fact that the Panbari reserve forest was once used by the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) as a hiding place.