Manipur: 8 of 9 firearms looted from IRB outpost recovered
Imphal (PTI): Security forces have recovered eight of the nine firearms looted from an India Reserve Battalion (IRB) outpost in Manipur's Thoubal district, a police statement said on Monday.
The firearms, including three AKs and five SLRs, were recovered during a search operation in Ngamukhong foothills in the district and a hideout of banned outfit Kangleipak Communist Party was also busted in another subsequent operation, it said.
"The operations were launched after around 30 armed miscreants equipped with sophisticated weapons, breached one police (IRB) outpost at Kakmayai in Thoubal district (on Saturday night) and overpowered the police personnel deployed at the post," the police statement said.
"The armed miscreants looted nine firearms, including six SLR and 3 AKs, from the outpost and escaped," it said.
Security personnel had managed to detain one of the miscreants, identified as Hijam Ningthem Singh (49) who was later identified as a member of KCP, the statement said.
During further course of investigation and relentless search operations at different locations, police on Sunday recovered three AKs and five SLRs out of the nine looted firearms from Ngamukhong foothill area, it said.
Further, as a part of follow-up operations, security forces also conducted huge combing operations in Ningel, Malom, Toubul and Langathel in Thoubal district during which one hideout of KCP was busted in Langathel Chingkhong area.
INSAS and AK cartridges, 11 hand grenades, one 9mm pistol, bullet-proof vests and other articles were recovered from the hideout.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
