Chinese-made pistol find their way to Bangalore

After seizing a Chinese-made pistol from dacoits on Wednesday, the police are trying to find out if the miscreants have a link with Maoists. Police commissioner BG Jyothi Prakash Mirji said Mahadevapura police arrested three persons on Wednesday on the charges of trying to commit a dacoity.

They had a Chinese-made pistol and four bullets, a car, gold chain, four laptops and mobile phones. Mirji said the accused have more illegal weapons.

A police officer said they suspect that Maoists were smuggling weapons into big Indian cities to raise funds. The officer said only the Maoists are known to be able to procure such weapons.

The accused have been identified as Syed Azam, 51, a resident of Hoskote, Mohammed Sujath Ali, 42, a resident of Kaverinagar, and Varadaraju, 30, a resident of Vijinapura.

They, along with their aides—Christopher alias Sathish, Alim, Munna and Kousar—were trying to commit dacoity near Hoodi Railway Gate on Wednesday.  The police got a tip-off, rushed to the spot and arrested three persons and the rest managed to flee.

The police said those who are absconding are suspected to be sandalwood smugglers.

Varadaraju, who was working as driver for Somesh, a former councillor of Vijinapura, was found to be in possession of the pistol.

“It’s very rare to find Chinese-made weapons in India. Hence, we can’t rule out the chances that he might have got it from Maoists, as they use Chinese-made weapons,” said an investigating officer. He said that the pistol had ‘Only for army purpose’ and ‘Made in China’ engravings on it.

He added that Varadaraju had said he had bought the pistol for Rs10,000 in Odisha and was planning to sell it for Rs30,000 in Bangalore.

Although the police said Chinese-made pistols are not available in the country, the IB said all Maoist-affected states, including Odisha, get weapons from China. Realising that the business of supplying Chinese weapons to criminals might be a source of fund-raising for the Maoists, the police have decided to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the source who supplied the pistol to Varadaraju.

Mahadevapura police are banking on acquiring more information about the source of the pistol once the four absconding culprits are arrested.